9th July 2023
Interpreters contribution to asylum process 'underestimated' by UK
Interpreters working in the UK asylum system are dealing with a “chaotic” set-up which underestimates how crucial translators are to the process, a researcher has said.
Adam Williamson, who undertook a year-long Master of Philosophy (MPhil) research project at Glasgow University, said that the lack of training and guidance for interpreters engaging with tribunals, and refugees who may be traumatised, is undoubtedly having an impact.
In one case, a miscommunication over the Southeast Asian dialect used by an asylum seeker in a case he observed led to a tribunal hearing descending into a “complete farce” after it emerged that the translator could not understand the client.
There is also no formal training for interpreters working in the asylum system, how it works, what the asylum seeker's rights are, or guidance for the translator's own well-being, as well as how to maintain impartiality throughout the sometimes gruelling process.
There are also different layers to the process from initial meetings with solicitors and lengthy Home Office interviews to appeal hearings at the Immigration and Asylum Tribunal.
“There is a complete lack of understanding of how complex the task of interpreting can be, and how little attention is really paid to it as a potential complication,” Williamson told the Sunday National. […]
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