难民:土耳其官员变得更加暴力

AS IT IS 2016-03-22 Refugees: Turkish Officials Becoming More Violent 难民:土耳其官员变得更加暴力

Refugees from the Middle East who have recently entered Greece say Turkish police and coast guard members are dealing¹ with them more forcefully.

They say Turkish officials are trying to stop people from crossing the Aegean Sea.

The refugees say the Turkish authorities have attacked them on beaches to try to stop them from entering smugglers’ boats or as they travel by sea.

Some Syrian refugees also have accused Turkey of returning them to Syria. In December, refugees said several hundred of them were held at a detention³ center two hours from Istanbul. They said they were then brought to the border on buses and forced to cross back into Syria.

On Friday, European Union and Turkish leaders agreed to return refugees from the Middle East and migrants from Africa to Turkey after they land in Greece. In exchange, the EU will give Turkey an additional $3.4 billion to help the country pay for dealing with the crisis.

The EU also agreed to let as many as 72,000 of the estimated 2.7 million Syrian refugees now in Turkey move to EU countries.

Rights groups have condemned⁴ the deal. They say it violates both EU human rights legislation and international laws.

After the agreement was announced, the rights group Amnesty International released a statement. It said, “Turkey is not a safe country for refugees and migrants, and any return process predicated on it as being so will be flawed, illegal and immoral⁵.”

An increase in violence by members of the Turkish coast guard or police will likely mean rights groups will ask European courts to cancel the deal. Some rights groups have already threatened to do so.

Last month, Amnesty International released a report that said Turkish security forces had shot and wounded civilians⁶. The report said those injured included children, who were trying to flee Syria by entering Turkey.

The rights group said Turkey had left thousands of civilians trapped in northern Syria. The civilians had fled their homes during attacks by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Those forces were being supported by Russia.

Amnesty International said “Turkey’s highly selective practice is appalling⁷ -- only severely-injured people are allowed entry to seek medical treatment.”

Turkey has said that it is open to Syrian refugees fleeing conflict. But its border with Syria has been closed to civilians for more than a year. If anyone wants to enter, they must pay criminals who will smuggle² them in. There have been many reports of Turkish border guards shooting at civilians trying to cross into Turkey.

In May 2015, VOA reported on claims by Syrian civilians that they had been shot at by Turkish guards near the town of Kilis. The guards were reportedly trying to stop the refugees from entering a tunnel that goes under the border fence.

Human Rights Watch has also accused Turkey of pushing back Syrians as they try to enter the country. In November, the rights group released a report on the situation. It said “Syrians described Turkish border guards (stopping) them at or near the border, in some cases beating them, and pushing them and dozens of others back into Syria or detaining and then summarily expelling them along with hundreds of others.”

Words in This Story

predicate on – v. to be a precondition for; to be used as the basis for

appalling – adj. to horrify⁸; to cause extreme concern

tunnel – n. an underground passage; a passageway that is dug through the earth

summarily – adv. without observing usual practices or rules

1 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

2 smuggle   

vt.私运；vi.走私

参考例句：

• Friends managed to smuggle him secretly out of the country.朋友们想方设法将他秘密送出国了。
• She has managed to smuggle out the antiques without getting caught.她成功将古董走私出境，没有被逮捕。

3 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。

4 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

5 immoral   

adj.不道德的，淫荡的，荒淫的，有伤风化的

参考例句：

• She was questioned about his immoral conduct toward her.她被询问过有关他对她的不道德行为的情况。
• It is my belief that nuclear weapons are immoral.我相信使核武器是不邪恶的。

6 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。

7 appalling   

adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions.恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• Nothing can extenuate such appalling behaviour.这种骇人听闻的行径罪无可恕。

8 horrify   

vt.使恐怖，使恐惧，使惊骇

参考例句：

• His family were horrified by the change.他的家人对这一变化感到震惊。
• When I saw these figures I was horrified.我看到这些数字时无比惊骇。