歐洲難民危機升級 德國實施邊境控制

Germany has attempted to stem the swelling tide of migrants to the country by introducing emergency border controls in a dramatic move that highlights the extraordinary pressures the refugee crisis is placing on Europe’s cherished system of free movement.

德國正試圖實施緊急邊境控制，以遏制不斷涌來的難民潮。這一戲劇性舉措凸顯出此次難民危機給歐洲珍視的自由遷徙體制帶來不尋常的壓力。

Thomas de Mazière, Germany’s interior minister, did not specify how long the measures would remain but he said they were “urgently needed” for reasons of security and to curb the huge number of migrants heading for Germany.

德國內政部長托馬斯德邁齊埃(Thomas de Mazière)並未明確指出上述舉措將維持多久。不過他表示，出於安全原因，也爲了限制流向德國的難民的巨大人數，這些舉措“具有極其迫切的必要性”。

The rare move by Berlin to protect its borders and place restrictions on Europe’s Schengen zone goes against one of the EU’s core principles of allowing passport-free travel between most of the countries in the bloc.

德國政府這一保護其邊境並對歐洲《申根協定》(Schengen)區加以限制的舉措十分罕見，它與歐盟(EU)允許其多數成員國之間免護照旅行的核心原則相牴觸。

“We simply need some more time, and a certain degree of order on our borders,” Mr de Mazière said in Berlin.

德邁齊埃在柏林表示：“我們只是需要更多時間，以及一定程度的邊境秩序。”

After the move, which will initially focus on the Austrian border, Deutsche Bahn, the German railways operator, said trains between Germany, Austria and Hungary had been stopped.

這一措施最初將主要關注德國與奧地利的邊境。該措施推出之後，德國鐵路公司(Deutsche Bahn)表示，德國、奧地利和匈牙利之間的火車已經停運。

As EU interior ministers prepare for a crucial meeting today to decide how to share out the new arrivals, many of whom are fleeing the civil war in Syria, Mr de Mazière said the move was a “signal to Europe” that Germany could not deal with the crisis alone.

歐盟各國內政部長準備在今天召開一個重要會議，確定如何分配新抵達歐洲的難民——這些難民中的許多人逃離敘利亞的內戰。德邁齊埃表示，此舉是“向歐洲發出的一個信號”，表明德國無法獨自應對這一危機。

Germany said in August that it expected to receive 800,000 asylum seekers this year, more than the entire EU received in 2014. Politicians were initially optimistic that the country could cope with the influx but, in recent days, the speed of arrivals has threatened to overwhelm the reception effort.

今年8月，德國表示預計今年將接收80萬難民，超過了2014年整個歐盟的接收人數。起初，政界人士樂觀地認爲德國有能力應對流入難民。然而最近幾天，難民的流入速度已有超過接收能力的跡象。

About 12,200 migrants arrived in Munich — which has borne the brunt of the influx — on Saturday alone. Similar numbers were expected on Sunday and Sigmar Gabriel, Germany’s vice-chancellor, warned that Germany was close to “the limits of its capabilities”.

在難民潮首當其衝的慕尼黑，僅上週六一天就接收了大約1.22萬難民，預計週日的流入人數與此類似。德國副總理西格馬爾加布里爾(Sigmar Gabriel)警告說，德國正接近“其承受能力的極限”。

“It’s not primarily the number of refugees that is the problem, so much as the speed with which they are arriving that is making life so hard for Germany’s states and municipalities,” he said in an interview with the German newspaper Tagesspiegel.

他在接受德國《每日鏡報》(Der Tagesspiegel)採訪時表示：“首要的問題不是難民人數。他們涌入得如此之快，令德國各州政府和市政府處境十分艱難。”

The European Commission said that Germany’s move did not breach the rules of Europe’s Schengen zone, which allow the “temporary reintroduction of border controls” in a crisis.

歐盟委員會(European Commission)表示，德國的舉措並未違反歐洲《申根協定》的規定，因爲該協定允許在危機時期“暫時實施邊境控制”。

However, it is a highly unusual move on a continent that has for decades been trying to remove its borders. In 2011 both Denmark and France temporarily introduced border controls amid concerns about immigration while Germany used controls when it hosted a G7 meeting this year.

不過，對於幾十年來一直試圖取消各國邊境線的歐洲來說，這一舉措極不尋常。2011年，由於擔心外來移民，丹麥和法國都曾暫時實施邊境控制。此外，德國曾在今年主持七國集團(G7)會議時實施邊境控制。