A Passage A Day

ลำดับตอนที่ #43 : Migrant crisis: EU meeting seeks to heal growing rifts

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http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35657054

25 February 2016

Ministers from EU and Balkan nations are meeting in Brussels to try to heal rifts over migrants that have plunged common policy into chaos.

Austria, Serbia and Macedonia have taken their own steps to limit entry to migrants, angering Greece, which fears the controls will cause a bottleneck.

A surge in migration, and the failure to agree an EU-wide response, have led to warnings about the bloc's survival.

More than 100,000 migrants have reached Europe this year, most via the Balkans.

European Council president Donald Tusk has warned that the failure to make progress towards resolving the crisis could increase the likelihood of the UK voting to leave the EU this year.

The EU interior ministers meeting in Brussels will hear plans drawn up by Austria and eight Balkan countries that seek to restrict the numbers entering their borders.

An official from the current Dutch presidency of the EU told the AFP news agency that the purpose of Thursday's meetings would be "to allow us to avoid surprises - we have to avoid that one country is surprised by the measures taken by another."

In separate developments:

§  Ships from a Nato mission fighting human-trafficking in the Aegean Sea will work with Turkish and Greek coastguards, according to a new agreement, overcoming territorial tensions between the two neighbours

§  A French judge is to decide whether to implement or postpone an eviction order for up to 1,000 migrants under plans to demolish part of the Calais "Jungle" camp

§  Belgium has detained 80 migrants on the French border since imposing controls on Monday evening, officials say. Many of the migrants are thought to have come from Calais

§  Germany expects to accommodate 3.6m migrants by 2020, German media reported, quoting internal government estimates

Relocation deal explained

The new measures - from Austria and its Balkan partners - include fingerprinting all entrants and turning back anyone without a passport or holding fake documents.

The countries have also pledged to accept only those they deem to be in need of protection, which has already been interpreted by some governments as meaning only Syrians and Iraqis.

Macedonia enacted the measures at its border with Greece over the weekend, barring entry to Afghans, who make up many of the migrants.

Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner described the measures as a "chain reaction of reason" and warned that the crisis could threaten the EU's survival if it was not brought under control.

Sebastian Kurz, the Austrian foreign minister told German TV that Europe had to "abandon this goal of allowing in unlimited numbers".

"We in Austria are overwhelmed," he said. "It cannot be that all migrants make their applications for asylum in Western Europe."

Analysis - BBC Europe Correspondent Chris Morris

The air is thick with recrimination as ministers meet to try to save a common migration policy that is threatening to collapse in disarray. The situation is bad, said one senior diplomat, and getting worse.

A number of countries have followed Austria's example in imposing unilateral border measures to try to restrict the flow of migrants and refugees seeking asylum. Other countries want to shift the focus back onto common solutions, such as sharing the burden of hosting arriving refugees more widely.

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But the plans drew sharp criticism from Greece, which threatened to block all decisions at EU migration summits next month if member states did not agree to take in quotas of migrants.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said his country was turning into a "permanent warehouse of souls" and should not be left to deal with the crisis alone.

"From now on, Greece will not agree to deals if we do not secure the mandatory sharing of the burden and responsibility proportionally among member states," Mr Tsipras said.

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has also criticised the measures. "The response is not closures, it is co-operation," said the agency's head, Filippo Grandi. "Everybody has to take a share of this burden."

Last September, EU ministers agreed plans to relocate 120,000 migrants from Italy, Greece and Hungary to other EU countries. But the majority vote decision was opposed by Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.

On Wednesday Hungary announced it would hold a referendum on accepting mandatory EU migrant quotas. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban stressed that the quotas "could redraw Europe's cultural and religious identity".

In an interview with German newspaper Bild, he said Europe was paying Turkey to secure its borders as it could not protect them itself.

"This policy makes Europe's future and security reliant on the goodwill of Turkey," he warned.

The referendum is expected to be held in the autumn, subject to parliamentary approval.

More than 100,000 migrants have arrived in Greece and Italy so far this year, theInternational Organization for Migration (IOM) said.

More than 400 migrants died attempting to make the journey during the same period, the IOM said.

A note on terminology: The BBC uses the term migrant to refer to all people on the move who have yet to complete the legal process of claiming asylum. This group includes people fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, who are likely to be granted refugee status, as well as people who are seeking jobs and better lives, who governments are likely to rule are economic migrants.

Vocabulary

rifts (n.)

a ​large ​crack in the ​ground or in ​rock:

 a ​serious ​disagreement that ​separates two ​people who have been ​friends and ​stops ​their ​friendship ​continuing:

plunged (v.)

to (​cause someone or something to) ​move or ​fall ​suddenly and often a ​long way ​forward, down, or into something:

to ​become ​lower in ​value or ​level very ​suddenly and ​quickly

(n.)

a ​sudden ​movement or ​fall ​forward, down, or into

bottleneck. (n.)

 a ​place where a ​road ​becomes ​narrow, or a ​place where there is often a lot of ​traffic, ​causing the ​traffic to ​slow down or ​stop:

 a ​problem that ​delays ​progress:

surge (n.)

a ​sudden and ​great ​increase:

implement  (v.)

to ​start using a ​plan or ​system:

eviction  (n.)

 the ​action of ​forcing someone to ​move out of a ​property:

demolish (v.)

 to ​completely ​destroy a ​building, ​especially in ​order to use the ​land for something ​else

 to ​prove that an ​argument or ​theory is ​wrong:

to ​easily ​defeat someone

impose (v.)

to ​officially ​force a ​rule, ​tax, ​punishment, etc. to be ​obeyed or ​received:

 to ​expect someone to do something for you or ​spend ​timewith you when they do not ​want to or when it is not ​convenient for them:

to ​force someone to ​accept something, ​especially a ​beliefor way of ​living:

entrants (n.)

a ​person who ​becomes a ​member of a ​group or ​organization:

 a ​person who ​takes ​part in a ​competition or an ​exam

a ​company that ​starts ​selling a ​particular ​product or ​service, or ​selling in a ​particular ​place, for the first ​time

pledged (n.)

a ​serious or ​formal ​promise, ​especially one to give ​money or to be a ​friend, or something that you give as a ​sign that you will ​keep a ​promise:

(v.)

to make a ​serious or ​formal ​promise to give or do something:

deem (v.)

to ​consider or ​judge something in a ​particular way:

interpreted (v.)

 to ​decide what the ​intended ​meaning of something is:

enact (v.)

to put something into ​action, ​especially to make something ​law

barring (prep.)

 except if a ​particular thing ​happens:

recrimination (n.)

arguments between ​people who are ​blaming each other:

disarray. (n.)

 the ​state of being ​confused and having no ​organization or of being ​untidy:

diplomat(n.)

an ​official whose ​job is to ​represent one ​country in another, and who usually ​works in an ​embassy

 a ​person who is ​skilled at ​dealing with ​difficult​situations in a way that does not ​offend ​people

unilateral (adj.)

​involving only one ​group or ​country:

refugees (n.)

a ​person who has ​escaped from ​their own ​country for ​political, ​religious, or ​economic ​reasons or because of a ​war:

summits (n.)

an ​important ​formal ​meeting between ​leaders of ​governments from two or more ​countries:

the ​highest, most ​successful, or most ​important ​point in something:

quotas (n.)

a ​fixed, ​limited ​amount or ​number that is ​officially ​allowed:

mandatory  (adj.)

 Something that is mandatory must be done, or is ​demandedby ​law:

burden  (n.)

a ​heavy ​load that you ​carry

 something ​difficult or ​unpleasant that you have to ​deal with or ​worry about

proportionally (Adv.)

when considering an ​amount of something as a ​part of a whole:

  opposed (Adj.)

completely different:

to ​disagree with a ​principle or ​plan:

 redraw (v.)

to ​change something, ​especially the ​borders between ​countries or ​regions

to ​draw something again, ​especially to ​improve it

reliant (Adj.)

to need or depend on something or someone in ​order to be able to do something:

parliamentary (Adj.)

of or ​relating to a ​parliament:

flee (v.)

 to ​escape by ​running away, ​especially because of ​danger or ​fear:

flee the country

to ​quickly go to another ​country in ​order to ​escape from something or someone: