As Aleppo Burns, Europe Weighs Syria Response With Fears of Renewed Refugee Crisis

As Aleppo Burns, Europe Weighs Syria Response With Fears of Renewed Refugee Crisis

LONDON — 

As Syrian government forces continue to push deeper into the rebel stronghold of eastern Aleppo, analysts¹ say the wider geopolitical ramifications² are being felt across the West. In Europe, demands for the removal of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could be tempered by a desire to avoid another refugee crisis.

In eastern Aleppo, Syrian government forces backed by Russia are gaining ground. Victory here for President Bashar al-Assad may force a change of strategy by Western governments.

“Assad’s winning. And I think it’s pretty safe to say that he will be there at the endgame," said Michael Stephens at the Royal United Services Institute in London. "And whoever negotiates a peace deal in Syria will have to negotiate with Bashar al-Assad.”

Europe and the United States have backed moderate opposition³ forces. But the desire to end the bloodshed could trump⁴ those alliances.

“How that end is reached, to be perfectly⁵ honest, is becoming less important than reaching it,” said Stephens.

Europe is hosting around one million Syrian refugees. The battle for Aleppo has forced tens of thousands more to flee. Human rights groups say Europe must respond.

“The people of Europe are prepared to receive refugees," said John Dalhuisen of Amnesty International in London. "They want to be reassured⁶ that this will be done in a structured, organized way, that there are reception conditions waiting for them in their countries, that there won’t be social difficulties internally.”

But Europe is struggling to cope with the migrant influx⁷ – and that could force a policy divergence⁸ between Brussels and Washington.

“The number one priority for the Europeans is to stop a new wave of refugees coming into continental⁹ Europe," said Michael Stephens of the Royal United Services Institute in London. "That brings Turkey into the game, and so there has to be a relationship with Turkey. Which then brings the Kurdish issue into the game. And if we see at the moment, current operations against the Islamic State still heavily favor the Kurds in Syria as the preferred choice. But that seems to be an American-led initiative, Europeans are far more cautious about it.”

For Europe, the war in Syria no longer has the strategic importance it once did, says Stephens.

“All the different outside factions¹⁰ and the proxy¹¹ groups continued that war, turning it into a stalemate which has destabilized almost the entire region, and also southern Europe, and driven the rise of far-right movements in Europe as well," Stephens said. "There are far, far larger issues at stake and unfortunately those people losing out are the Syrian civilians¹² in eastern Aleppo.”

Ending the war may come with the price of keeping Bashar al-Assad in power. Even then, analysts say, Syria’s future stability is far from guaranteed.

1 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

2 ramifications   

n.结果，后果( ramification的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These changes are bound to have widespread social ramifications. 这些变化注定会造成许多难以预料的社会后果。
• What are the ramifications of our decision to join the union? 我们决定加入工会会引起哪些后果呢？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

4 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

5 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

6 reassured   

adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The captain's confidence during the storm reassured the passengers. 在风暴中船长的信念使旅客们恢复了信心。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The doctor reassured the old lady. 医生叫那位老妇人放心。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 influx   

n.流入，注入

参考例句：

• The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
• Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施，因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。

8 divergence   

n.分歧，岔开

参考例句：

• There is no sure cure for this transatlantic divergence.没有什么灵丹妙药可以消除大西洋两岸的分歧。
• In short,it was an age full of conflicts and divergence of values.总之，这一时期是矛盾与价值观分歧的时期。

9 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

10 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

11 proxy   

n.代理权，代表权；（对代理人的）委托书；代理人

参考例句：

• You may appoint a proxy to vote for you.你可以委托他人代你投票。
• We enclose a form of proxy for use at the Annual General Meeting.我们附上委任年度大会代表的表格。

12 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。