援助组织:叙利亚难民若被遣返,将面临危险

Aid Groups: Syrian Refugees Face danger if Forced to Return Home

International aid groups are warning countries with refugees from the Syrian conflict against forcing them to return to Syria.

Humanitarian¹ groups, including the Norwegian Refugee Council and CARE International, released a report about the refugees this week. It noted² the dangers the Syrians will face if they are forcibly returned to a land where fighting continues.

"Hundreds of thousands of refugees are at risk of being pushed to return to Syria in 2018, despite ongoing³ violence, bombing and shelling that are endangering the lives of civilians," the report said.

"Return would neither be safe nor voluntary for the vast majority who fled the war and the violence," said Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council. He said that even in areas where fighting has slowed, his group has noted intense violence, “targeting of hospitals and schools, and death.”

Forced from home

The United Nations says at least 300,000 Syrians have fled fighting over the past few weeks in the northwestern province of Idlib. The area has come under heavy attack from Russian and Syrian airplanes.

Officials noted that those Syrians had been displaced from their homes earlier.

Aid agencies estimate that 721,000 Syrian refugees returned to their home country last year. In 2016, the number was 560,000. The report warns that continuing violence is expected to force 1.5 million Syrians from their homes this year.

In countries bordering Syria, including Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey, talk of returning the refugees has increased.

The report said Syria’s neighbors have been closing borders, expelling some refugees, and forcing others to return involuntarily. It added that more governments are planning such repatriations -- not just of Syrians, but also those who have fled from war in other countries, including Afghanistan and Iraq.

Governments are under the influence of rising populist anger against immigrants and public fear of foreigners. The aid agencies also warned of economic migrants being sent back to their home countries.

Repatriations planned to increase

Israel is planning to remove an estimated 20,000 migrants from Sudan and Eritrea. In Italy, a coalition⁵ of political parties is campaigning for more than 100,000 migrants to be sent home over the next 12 months.

Aid agencies remember the year 2015 for a migration⁶ crisis, with large numbers of people arriving in Europe. Now, humanitarian workers fear 2018 could become the year of repatriation⁴.

"Return and repatriation of refugees and migrants is high on the European political agenda," the UN children's agency warned.

However in Italy, interior minister Marco Minniti, has led an effort to take the migration issue away from populist politicians. Minniti has become known for making deals with militias⁷ along Libya's coast and tribes in its desert to stop human trafficking.

Recently, a deal with Libya's coastguards has seen asylum⁸-seekers stopped at sea and returned to Libya before they ever get to Italy. Humanitarian groups have warned that those being stopped at sea face bad conditions in detention⁹ in Libya.

International agreements on refugees

At the United Nations Refugee Convention 1951, countries signed a treaty defining who is a refuge. Since then, European governments have not taken part in mass forced repatriation of war refugees. But now there has been an increase in the return of asylum-seekers from Afghanistan. The Afghans are not considered war refugees by the European Union, or EU.

The convention says that refugees may not be returned if they fear their "life or freedom may be threatened" because of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a social group or opinion. U.N. refugee policies also state that once asylum is approved in another country, refugees can be forced to return home only when conditions in their home country have improved.

In recent weeks, the European Parliament has pressured Britain and other European countries to explain why they have refused requests and sent back hundreds of Afghan asylum-seekers.

In 2016, EU officials reached an aid agreement with Afghanistan. This included the Afghan government’s willingness to take back refused asylum-seekers. However since the agreement, involuntary repatriations have increased quickly.

The International Organization for Migration says 500 Afghans were forcibly removed to Afghanistan in 2017. Human rights activists¹⁰ say people sent home could be killed.

Iraqi officials are also concerned about plans in Europe for the forced return of Iraqi refugees whose asylum requests have been denied.

Last month, the head of the Iraqi parliament's foreign relations committee urged the government to refuse to negotiate with EU countries concerning forced repatriation of Iraqis.

I’m Phil Dierking.

Words in This Story

agenda - n. a list of things to be considered or done

despite - prep. used to say that something happens or is true even though there is something that might prevent it from happening or being true

migrant - n. a person who goes from one place to another especially to find work?

repatriation - n. when someone is returned to his or her own country

1 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

2 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

3 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

4 repatriation   

n.遣送回国，归国

参考例句：

• The Volrep programme is the preferred means of repatriation. 政府认为自愿遣返计划的遣返方法较为可取。 来自互联网
• Arrange the cargo claiming and maritime affairs,crews repatriation,medical treatment,traveling so on. （六）洽办货物理赔，船舶海事处理，办理船员遣返，就医，旅游等。 来自互联网

5 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

6 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

7 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

8 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

9 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

10 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》