歐盟接近同土耳其達成難民遣返協議

The EU is close to a deal with Ankara that would see all non-Syrian migrants reaching Greek islands returned to Turkey, marking a crucial step in the bloc’s hardening stance against the flow of people pouring into its territories.

歐盟接近與安卡拉方面達成協議，按照該協議，抵達希臘島嶼的來自敘利亞以外國家的所有難民將被送回土耳其，這標誌着歐盟邁出關鍵的一步，對源源不斷涌來的人潮立場轉向強硬。

After weeks of diplomatic pressure from Berlin and Brussels, Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish prime minister, privately signalled in negotiations yesterday that Ankara would accept the systematic return of non-Syrians and step up action against smugglers.

在柏林和布魯塞爾施加外交壓力數週之後，土耳其總理阿赫邁特•達烏特奧盧(Ahmet Davutoglu)昨日在談判期間私下發出信號暗示，安卡拉將接受系統化地遣返所有非敘利亞難民，並加大力度打擊人口走私販。

Although the agreement is tentative, the terms could mark a long-sought turning point in Europe’s migration crisis, giving a harder edge to a strategy that has largely failed to dent flow of people across the Aegean Sea.

雖然這份協議是試探性的，但其條款可能標誌着歐洲的移民危機達到了一個各方努力已久的轉折點，使迄今基本上未能阻止人潮渡過愛琴海的戰略具備更加強硬的鋒芒。

The flood of migrants has triggered acute tensions within the EU as more than 1.2m people reached the 28-country bloc by sea last year. Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, has come under pressure at home and from other countries to stem the flow after she pledged to accept Syrian refugees last year and then sought an EU deal to share the burden with reluctant member states.

難民洪流引發了歐盟內部的嚴重緊張。去年有120餘萬人從海路進入有28個成員國的歐盟。德國總理安格拉•默克爾(Angela Merkel)在國內外都受到要求阻止難民潮的壓力，去年她曾承諾接受敘利亞難民，但隨後尋求在歐盟內部就分攤難民安置負擔達成協議，其中一些成員國對此很不情願。

Two diplomats familiar with the discussions yesterday said Turkey also agreed to accept all migrants rescued in international waters by a Nato mission — a sensitive issue that had held-up progress on the operation.

熟悉相關商談的兩名外交官昨日表示，土耳其還同意接受北約在國際水域救助的所有難民。這是一個敏感問題，此前曾阻礙北約救助行動的進展。