The images have become all too familiar. On Saturday, French police stood on the shore watching as dozens of migrants, including young children, crammed on to a dinghy a few hundred metres off the coast.
这些图像已经变得太熟悉了。上周六，法国警方站在岸边，看着数十名移民，包括幼童，挤在离海岸仅几百米远的一艘小艇上。
It has happened often, and in some cases migrants have drowned in front of the watching gendarmes.
这种情况屡见不鲜，有时甚至有移民在警察的注视下溺亡。
While it appears unfathomable, the refusal of the police to intervene is ultimately a matter of French rules. The UK is pushing for those rules to change.
尽管这看起来令人难以理解，但警方拒绝干预的背后，最终还是法国法规在起作用。 英国正在推动这些规则的改变。
Why don't the French police stop more boats?
为什么法国警方不拦截更多的船只呢?
The French insist there are both legal and practical constraints. Once a boat is afloat in the water, it is not within the powers of the gendarmerie to intercept it and bring it back to shore, even if it is safe to do so.
法国方面坚称，这其中既有法律层面的限制，也有实际操作层面的困难。 一旦船只已漂浮在水上，即便将其拦截并带回岸边是安全的， 这也不属于宪兵的职权范围。
In February the French interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, said he wanted to give the gendarmerie new powers that would allow them to intercept boats within 300m of the coast. "We need to rethink our approach so that we can intercept the boats. They (the gendarmerie) must be able to intervene in shallow waters," he said.
今年二月，法国内政部长布鲁诺·雷泰洛表示， 他希望赋予宪兵新的权力，使其能够在离海岸300米的范围内拦截船只。 “我们需要重新思考我们的应对方式，以便能够拦截这些船只。 他们(宪兵)必须能够在浅水区进行干预。”他说道。
Retailleau also said he hoped to restore the offence of an "illegal stay" in France, which would allow police to arrest migrants and smugglers before they attempt a crossing. At present, migrants who are only considered to have committed an offence when they launch the boat.
雷泰洛还表示，他希望恢复在法国“非法滞留”的罪名， 这将允许警方在移民和走私者尝试偷渡之前就将他们逮捕。 目前，只有在移民启动船只时，才会被认为犯下了罪行。
More than three months on, neither of these changes have occurred.
然而，三个多月过去了，这些改革措施一项都没有实施。
The Home office said at the weekend that it was still "urging the French to make the necessary changes to their operational policy so their maritime forces can intervene in shallow waters as soon as possible". The French have instead begun a review into "new operational tactics", although it is unclear what the outcome will be.
英国内政部上周末表示，他们仍在“敦促法国对其行动政策做出必要的改变，以便其海上部队能够尽快在浅水区进行干预”。 不过，法国方面却开始审查“新的行动策略”，尽管目前还不清楚结果会如何。
One of the concerns is said to centre around whether gendarmes should wear body armour in the water. Another is what French officers, who routinely carry guns, should to do protect them while in the sea.
据说，其中一项担忧集中在宪兵是否应该在水里穿着防弹衣。 另一项担忧则是，那些通常携带枪支的法国警官在海里应该如何保护自己。
Why don't the French disable the boats before they launch?
为什么法国不在船只出发前就将其破坏呢?
Two years ago the French began a new policy, at the behest of the British, of disabling boats before launch. This was done by slashing the rubber inflatables.
两年前，应英国的要求，法国开始实施一项新政策，即在船只出发前进行破坏。 具体做法是割破橡皮充气艇。
But this prompted the traffickers to change their tactics, launching from inland waterways then sailing into shallow waters off Channel beaches, where they pick up migrants who wade out to meet the vessel.
然而，这一举措却促使走私者改变了策略，他们先从内陆水道出发，然后航行至英吉利海峡海滩附近的浅水区， 在那里接上涉水前来会合的移民。
Because the boats were already in the water, police could not intercept or disable them. This new tactic is understood to be partly to blame for the fall in the number of boats being intercepted by France, from 47 per cent in 2023 to just over 38 per cent so far this year.
由于船只此时已经在水上，警方无法对其进行拦截或破坏。 据了解，这种新策略是法国拦截船只数量下降的部分原因， 从2023年的47%下降至今年的略高于38%。
What other issues are there?
还存在哪些其他问题?
Manpower. In 2023, the UK agreed to pay France almost £500 million over three years for extra officers to join the effort.
人力问题。 2023年，英国同意在三年内向法国支付近5亿英镑，用于增派警力参与打击走私行动。
The French have 1,200 security personnel who can be deployed each day on coastal smuggler operations. Some 730 of them are paid for by the British. But they are still having to operate across 62 miles of coastline and many potential launch points.
法国每天可部署1200名安保人员执行沿海走私行动。 其中约730人的费用由英国承担。 然而，他们仍需在长达62英里的海岸线和众多潜在的出发地点展开行动。
Even when police are present, they can face personal danger attempting to stop the boats. Last weekend in Audinghen, west of Calais, two officers were taken to hospital after being pelted with stones thrown by migrants who were boarding two boats.
即便警察在场，他们在试图阻止船只时也可能面临人身危险。 上周末，在加来以西的奥迪昂热， 两名警察在试图阻止两艘船上的移民登船时，遭到移民投掷的石块袭击，随后被送往医院。
French police policy is only to intervene if there are enough officers present to safely control the situation. That is why you see pictures of police standing by while boats launch.
法国警方的政策是，只有在有足够警力在场以安全控制局势的情况下才会进行干预。 这就是为什么你会看到警察在船只下水时却站在一旁的照片。
重点词汇
on the shore 在岸边 ; 海滨 ; 在海边 ; 在海岸上 ; 水边
dozens of 几十 ; 很多
off the coast 在海面上
in some cases 在某些情况下 ; 有时候
in front of 在……前面 ; 未来 ; 在……最前面 的位置
it appears 似乎 ; 看来
a matter of ...的问题 ; 大约，左右
there are 有 ; 可数名词的复数形式 ; 许多重要事情要谈
practical constraints 实际约束
even if 即使 ; 虽然
