PQ: 28 February 2023

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/lords/?id=2023-02-28a.124.5

Eurostar St Pancras: Border Control - Question

– in the House of Lords at 2:48 pm on 28th February 2023.

Baroness Coussins Crossbench

My Lords, on speeding things up, is there any truth in the rumour that the Government want to deal with the asylum backlog by requiring applications in writing in English, using online translation tools? If so, is the Minister aware that where complex details and evidence on trafficking, for example, are machine translated, the frequency and severity of errors in this unregulated field is notoriously high, and should not be used without human oversight, such as the provision of professionally qualified public service interpreters?

Lord Murray of Blidworth The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department

I am afraid that that question is a very long way from the Question about steps to increase the flow of passengers through the border control at Eurostar, and the Companion is quite clear on this topic. If the noble Baroness wishes to ask questions about this, she must do so in the correct way.

Ireland: Murder case delayed due to unavailability of interpreter

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/courtandcrime/arid-41081405.html

27 February 2023

Bruna Fonseca murder case delayed due to unavailability of interpreter

[…] No Portuguese interpreter was available on Monday for the case against the 29-year-old man accused of murdering young Brazilian woman Bruna Fonseca in Cork on New Year’s Day, so the case had to be adjourned until March 1.

The accused man appeared by video link from Cork prison at Cork District Court. It emerged that no interpreter was available to translate the matter. […]

Judge Olann Kelleher adjourned the case until Wednesday when it is anticipated that an interpreter will be present.

Home Office to tell refugees to complete questionnaire in English or risk refusal

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/feb/22/home-office-plans-to-use-questionnaires-to-clear-asylum-backlog

22 February 2023

Home Office to tell refugees to complete questionnaire in English or risk refusal

Plans to cut the asylum backlog by sending questionnaires to refugees instead of conducting official interviews will demand that claimants reply in English within 20 working days or risk refusal, a leaked document shows.

The Home Office will on Thursday begin sending out copies of the 11-page document to about 12,000 people from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Libya, Syria and Yemen as part of Rishi Sunak’s plans to cut the “legacy backlog” of 92,000 asylum claims.

The move is meant to speed up the process by which claims are processed so that people can be either given leave to remain in the UK or removed.

But the questionnaire, seen by the Guardian, asks more than 50 complicated questions that it says “must be completed in English” and suggests using “online translation tools” if necessary.

[…] Questions that may have to be translated online into languages such as Pashto, or one of the nine official languages of Eritrea, by claimants include: “If you do fear officials in your country, is it possible to email or telephone family members or friends in your country of origin to request [identity documents] without placing yourself or them at risk?”

Another question asks: “Were you subject to human trafficking (the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of people through force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them for profit) or modern slavery (severe exploitation of other people for personal or commercial gain) during your journey to or after you arrived in the UK?”

[…] Caitlin Boswell, the policy and campaigns manager at the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, said: “People fleeing desperate circumstances clearly need this government to make quicker and fairer asylum decisions, but this latest move from government is clumsy, unthinking and could put people’s safety at risk. No one’s right to refuge should be jeopardised because they weren’t able to fill in an unwieldy form in a language they don’t speak.” […]

What’s it like when your job involves wading through others’ suffering?

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/feb/16/whats-it-like-when-your-job-involves-wading-through-others-suffering-i-was-left-weeping-and-hopeless

16 February 2023

What’s it like when your job involves wading through others’ suffering? I was left weeping and hopeless

[…] Vicarious trauma usually involves a cumulative effect. It is not just one event but many things that someone is exposed to over time, which lead to a cognitive shift in the way that person interacts with the world. Symptoms differ from person to person, but can involve flashbacks, intrusive thoughts and nightmares. Those affected can feel emotionally numb or hyper-aroused; they might engage in destructive and addictive behaviours, or feel as though they have lost a sense of meaning. […]

Yelena McCafferty, a Russian interpreter and translator from Lincolnshire, says her job working in public service settings with the police and in courtrooms means she often can’t talk to anyone about what she hears because the material, which can range from petty theft to child abuse, is confidential. “Sometimes you just want to unburden it on to someone, but you can’t,” she says. She has accepted that sometimes she will have flashbacks about certain cases, adding: “Interpreters are neutral. We are there to facilitate communication, but we are not robots. Everything that the person says physically goes through us and comes out in the first person.” Now, she says, there is a growing openness in her industry about the traumatic elements of the job, with training and webinars offered to raise awareness. […]

PQ: 14 February 2023

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2023-02-01.HL5300.h

Administration of Justice: Translation Services

Ministry of Justice written question – answered on 14th February 2023.

Baroness Coussins Crossbench

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the right to translation services for people engaged with the criminal justice system, under Directive 2010/64/EU of the European Parliament, and incorporated into UK law by 18 different measures, will be affected by the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill; and if so, whether this right will be (1) sunsetted, (2) retained, (3) replaced, or (4) updated.

Lord Bellamy The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice

The measures implementing Directive 2010/64/EU concerning the right to translation services for people engaged with the criminal justice system are in scope of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill. We are reviewing these and other pieces of retained EU law for which the Ministry of Justice is responsible to decide whether they should remain on the statute book, and if so whether they should in due course be amended using powers in the Bill, or whether they should be left to sunset.

The provision of translators and intermediaries is a priority for this government, and we do not intend to remove the right to translation services for people engaged with the criminal justice system.

Word of Mouth: Interpreting for mum and dad

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001j45s

14^th February 2023

Interpreting for mum and dad

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001j45s

Sanmeet Kaur has been interpreting for her parents since the age of five, when her family arrived in the UK from Afghanistan.

Portadown cannabis farm accused hearing adjourned to find interpreter

https://www.armaghi.com/news/portadown-news/portadown-cannabis-farm-accused-hearing-adjourned-to-find-interpreter/199695

11 February 2023

Portadown cannabis farm accused hearing adjourned to find interpreter

The man accused of multiple offences following the discovery of a cannabis farm in Portadown has had his court hearing adjourned to find an interpreter.

[…] Defence counsel, Barry McKenna, informed the court that the defendant would require the assistance of an interpreter, none of whom were present in the court.

District Judge Bernie Kelly adjourned the case until Friday, February 10, for a Lithuanian interpreter to be booked and for the defendant to be produced by way of videolink for the purpose of a bail application.

“the interpreter cancelled at the eleventh hour”

https://www.westerntelegraph.co.uk/news/23313523.sentencing-romanian-duo-4-200-shoplifting-spree-adjourned/

11 February 2023

[…] Yesterday’s hearing, Friday, February 10, heard that all the court documents had been prepared and were ready to go but that the Romanian interpreter for the defence had cancelled at the eleventh hour. This meant that Zamfir and Pascu’s defence barristers had been unable to have a conference with their clients or take instructions from them.

Judge, Mr Recorder N Owen-Casey, adjourned the hearing for a week at the defence’s request. […]

"there were poor interpretation services"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-64496514

7th February 2023

Gloucester mother died after post-birth treatment delay

[…] Modar Mohammednour, who made a home in Gloucestershire after leaving Sudan with little English, said that in March 2021, his wife attended the maternity unit at 39 weeks into her pregnancy for what she thought was a routine check-up.

Mr Mohammednour, 44, said due to language barriers his wife thought she was going "for a scan and to check on her health" and then "come back home", but in fact she was being sent to be induced.

"Immediately" after the labour, Ms Abdelkarim suffered heavy bleeding and her condition deteriorated - something Mr Mohammednour said he was "unaware of", until he was eventually called into the hospital to speak to a doctor.

The family's solicitor Hannah Carr, from Novum Law, said at this point her husband didn't know she had given birth let alone was in a critical condition.

[…] The HSIB also found Ms Abdelkarim was "uninformed" about the reason for her admission, "consent to induce labour was not given" and because she was thin and small, staff underestimated how much relative blood volume she was losing.

The HSIB said: "There was no effective communication with Rana and the events that occurred traumatised staff."

Ms Carr said Ms Abdelkarim was at greater risk during childbirth as she had undergone female genital mutilation as a girl.

She said that during the birth of her first daughter, "that was a consideration because Modar", who was present, "was able to advocate for her".

Ms Carr said because Mr Mohammednour was absent in the birth of their second daughter and there were poor interpretation services, Ms Abdelkarim and her husband "didn't understand what was happening", which "resulted in a complete breakdown in communication and led, unfortunately in part to her tragic death".