欧洲将何去何从？

Hundreds of men, women and children are feared to have died at sea over the weekend, the latest in a series of disasters in which migrants are packed illegally into dangerous ships that can’t withstand the voyages.

近年来，陆续有偷渡船沉没致使移民遇难的事件发生。这周，一艘偷渡船在地中海海域沉没，船上数百名移民恐已丧生。

"Gangs of criminals are putting people on a boat, sometimes even at gunpoint," Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said. "They’re putting them on the road to death, really, and nothing else."

马耳他总理慕斯凯特表示：“犯罪团伙将人们带至船上，有时还用枪威胁，他们把移民逼向了一条死亡之路。”

The ship took off from Libya, bound for Europe.

这艘船从利比亚出发，目的地是欧洲。

The number of victims was not immediately clear. A Bangladeshi survivor told investigators there were 950 people on board. Previous estimates put the number around 700.

遇难者人数尚未确定。一位来自孟加拉国的幸存者告诉调查人员说，船上一共有950人。最初的预测为700人左右。

Maltese authorities, who are working with Italian rescuers, said around 50 people had been saved. But the Italian Coast Guard said 28 people had been rescued and 24 bodies recovered.

马耳他当局与意大利救援队一起开展营救工作。马耳他当局声称已有50人获救。但意大利警卫队表示已营救28人，并发现24人遗体。

Migrants have been attempting the perilous journey across the Mediterranean to southern Europe for years, but authorities have reported a sudden surge in the past 10 days, along with a grim spike in the number of those who are killed en route.

近几年，陆续有移民尝试这危险之旅，试图穿越地中海到达欧洲南部。有关当局表示，近10天，偷渡者数量飙升，在途中死亡的人数也随之锐增。

Already this year, more than 900 migrants are believed to have died while crossing the Mediterranean, far more than during the same period in 2014, the International Organization for Migration said last week.

国际移民组织上周称，今年已有900人在穿越地中海时丧生，死亡人数远超2014年同时期。

On Monday, yet another boat sank off the Greek island of Rhodes, killing at least three people, the Greek Merchant Marine Ministry said. Of the 83 people reported on board, at least 57 survived. Those confirmed dead were a man, a woman and a child.

希腊商船部周一称，另一艘船在希腊罗德岛附近沉没，至少三人死亡。据报道，船上共83人，至少57人获救。确定死亡的是一名男子，一名女子和一个小孩。

European officials say the roots of the crisis are beyond their control.

欧洲官员表示，灾难的根源远远超出他们的控制。

"As long as countries of origin and transit do not take action to prevent these desperate trips, people will continue to put their lives at risk," the European Commission said.

“只要移民国和非法运输移民的国家不采取行动阻止这孤注一掷的旅程，人们还会冒着生命危险进行偷渡。”欧洲委员会如是说。

"The people are going to continue to arrive," said Roberta Metsola, a Maltese member of the European Parliament. "The desperation subsists -- there are almost a million people waiting to board boats and come to Europe to seek a better life. And that fact has to be recognized."

欧洲议会的马耳他代表罗伯塔·麦德索拉说：“人们还会继续奔赴这场旅程。还有一百万人为了生存而不顾一切，等待着登上甲板，去往欧洲寻找更好地生活。我们必须要认清这一事实。”