Interpreting in refugee camps –

What may be the challenges of the future?

Hausarbeit im Proseminar Translation
im Studiengang Mehrsprachige Kommunikation
an der Fakultät für Informations- und Kommunikationswissenschaften
der Technischen Hochschule Köln

vorgelegt von: Lylaf Hajymohamad

Matrikel-Nr.: 11134338
Adresse: Lassallestraße 44
51065 Köln
lylaf.hajymohamad@smail.th-koeln.de

eingereicht bei: Prof. Morven Beaton-Thome

Köln, 29.07.2022
Erklärung II

Abstract

Refugee camps have existed for as long as war and forced migration has been
happening. Increasing global difficulties, and political, environmental and soci-
etal challenges have accelerated the speed and increased the amount with
which groups of people emigrate from one place to another. This makes for a
big administrative and humanitarian issue on hand. Interpreters have been at
the forefront of mass migration and are witnessing a change paradigm shift re-
garding interpreting practices and their roles in the refugee’s asylum process.
This paper aims to point out the future challenges and needs of interpreters
working with refugees and asylum seekers in camps. The findings show that
there needs to be closer cooperation between academic research and the im-
plementation of these findings. New and improved training modules and CPD
courses have to be offered to interpreters, regardless of their professional
status, i.e., if they are certified specialists or a volunteer.

Key words: refugee camps, interpreting, migration, immigration

Erklärung III

Contents

Interpreting in refugee camps – What may be the challenges of the future?.........I

Abstract...................................................................................................................... II
Contents..................................................................................................................... III
Introduction................................................................................................................ 1
1 Definitions........................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Refugee................................................................................................................ 1
1.2 Asylum seeker......................................................................................................1
1.3 Refugee camp......................................................................................................1
1.4 Interpreter............................................................................................................. 1
1.4.1 Translator....................................................................................................1
2 Theoretical foundation.......................................................................................2
2.1 Seiteneinrichtung..................................................................................................2
3 Methodology....................................................................................................... 2
3.1 Zitieren.................................................................................................................. 2
4 Data analysis.......................................................................................................2
5 Conclusion and outlook.....................................................................................3
Bibliography............................................................................................................... 4
Internet sources......................................................................................................... 5
Erklärung.................................................................................................................... II
Erklärung IV
 5

Introduction

About 40.000 years ago, Homo sapiens tapped into the temperate climate
zones of Europe and 28.000 years later it was present in all the wider areas of
the continents. (Düvell; 2006; S.33) With the spreading of our early ancestors
the stage was set for humans to explore and populate the planet. Even though
humans have had centuries to get to where they want to be, figuratively speak-
ing, they are far from being settled, in its most literal sense. Natural disasters,
economic failure and many forms of persecution are only a few reasons why
people still flee their homes and look for safety and a better tomorrow else-
where.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),

there were a total of 27,1 million refugees by the end of 2021 of which 41% are
children. Over two-thirds of the refugees originate from just five countries and
38% are hosted in five countries. Only 486,800 refugees were able to return to
their home countries or be resettled successfully (UNHCR, 2021).

The right to an interpreter under international law was set in stone during the
1949 Geneva Conventions. The signing of the 1951 Refugee Convention mani-
fested the right to asylum for any person fearing persecution for reasons of
race, religion, nationality, social group or political opinion.

To establish whether a claimant qualifies for asylum, they must undergo a

screening interview. It is the responsibility of the interviewer to assess whether
they meet the legal criteria to obtain refugee status and thus asylum. When ap-
plicants do not speak the language of the country, states must comply with the
responsibility of translating for asylum applicants implying therein the right to in-
terpretation. (5)

Most asylum processes involve several interviews or hearings during which the
claimant must defend their case in different institutional settings: immigration or
police premises, detention centres, attorney offices, courts, etc. The success or
failure of an application rests on the credibility of the oral account that supports
the claim, which, often, requires the assistance of interpreters bound by rules of
professional conduct. (5)
 6

With global unrest and crises in the Global North such as the Global South, it is
apparent that the challenges in immigration that we face will not cease to exist
but will rather multiply and broaden. This paper aims at understanding the diffi -
culties in interpreting in refugee camps and the needs that may come up in the
future.

Please note that in the context of this paper environmental and economic mi-
grants will not be considered.

Cologne, 29.07.2022

1 Definition
The basis for the following definitions was a glossary by the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees.

1.1 Refugee

In Article 1 of the 1951 Refugee Convention, a refugee is defined as someone

who:

“As a result of events occurring before 1 January 1951 and owing to a well-
founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality,
membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the
country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to
avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a national-
ity and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result
of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.”

1.2 Asylum seeker

In the general sense, an asylum seeker is a person that seeks international pro-
tection. In countries with individualized procedures, an asylum-seeker is
someone whose claim has not yet been finally decided on by the country in
which the claim is submitted. Due to the UNHCR’s definition of a refugee, not
every asylum-seeker will ultimately be recognized as a refugee, but every
refugee was initially an asylum-seeker.
 7

1.3 Refugee camp

A refugee camp is a temporary settlement for people who have had to flee their
homes. Often these camps are for people who have had to flee internationally,
but sometimes they also house internally displaced people. It is not uncommon
to find over 100,000 people living in such a camp. Many refugees spend several
years in refugee camps. In case of long-term refuge situations, schooling, work
and materials to build their own houses are also provided.

1.4 Interpreter

An interpreter is someone whose job is to orally translate for parties conversing

in different languages. In the narrower sense, the interpreter transfers a non-
fixed, i.e., usually spoken, text orally or using sign language from one language
to another. They may also orally translate fixed, i.e., written texts.

1.4.1 Translator

A translator is someone whose job is to produce written translations from one

language into another.

2 Materials and Method

This paper is based on academic findings related to the issue of interpreting in

cross-border settings and working with refugees on the forefront lines of forced
migration. I will be focusing on the essentials from the paper “Interpreting in the
context of refugee migration: emerging professional challenges and needs” by
Atabekova et al. to help pinpoint some challenges that may emerge in the fu-
ture. Materials for theoretical analysis involve research papers and publications
on the topic under study. Their analysis helps in providing an answer to the
questions of future challenges.
 8

3 “Interpreting in the context of refugee migration: emerging

professional challenges and needs” (Atabekova et al.,
2017)

In the paper by Atabekova et al., the literature which is reviewed shows that in -
ternational legislation has been trying to ensure the right to language support for
individuals for decades. Many declarations and conventions directly mention the
right to language provision (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948; Uni-
versal Declaration of Linguistic Rights, 1996; European Convention for the Pro-
tection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, 1998) and even interna-
tional standards and recommendations have been created (ISO 13611:2014,
2014; SIGTIPS, 2011)., reveals a gap between the “systemically developed
general theory of [Public Service Interpreting and Translating] and the lack of
structured knowledge” of in-field practices. According to the findings of the pa-
per, scholars raise most concerns about:

 language barriers of fleeing persons (Salaets, 2015; Goldsmith, 2015),

 the lack of language service resulting in violation of human rights (Gor-

don, 2015)

 the lack of interpreters on migration itineraries (Alloush, 2016)

 interpreters’ little understanding of specifics related to emergencies

(Faes, 2015)

 locals engaging in volunteer interpreting due to the lack of professionals

(Tălpaș 2016; Baker, 2016; Huda, 2015).
There has been a particular interest in researching the psychological aspects of
interpreting (Belenkova, 2015) and specialists agree that those who work with
survivors of war, “deserve special attention in terms of their social maturity and
stability” because they “are often subject to vicarious traumatisation due to their
work with torture survivors and their therapists” (Akinsulure-Smith, 2007; Schle-
singer, 2005:46).

The research in this paper applied a qualitative approach to analysis and in-
cluded theoretical and empirical activities. The theoretical analysis was done on
legislation and publications on the topic. The empirical materials that were ana-
 9

lysed were digital mass media publications in blogs (e.g., Internews, 2017;
TWB, 2013; Open World, 2003) and newspapers publishing experiences and
comments of language service providers (Hadžiahmetović & Pavlović, 2016;
O’Driscoll, 2016; Surace, 2016; Uguen-Csenge, 2016; Weese, 2016) about their
work with refugees in migration hotspots. A total of 114 publications were ana-
lysed and the cultural and professional backgrounds of the interpreters were
considered. The results thus stem from a group of interpreters

 who represent the western European community and were born in

European countries,

 who came to European countries from other regions of the world and
have got certification from an EU institution (note: they do not separate
themselves from their home country’s culture),

 or volunteers, coming from the same countries that refugees come from
and performing interpreting activities due to the lack of professional inter-
preters on site.
The case-based cluster analysis was used to help identify professional needs
and aspects of training, the factor analysis aimed to specify the key elements
within each cluster that would require specific training activities and the t-test
was applied to evaluate the significance of different variables and to determine
statistically significant differences. (Atabekova et al 2017)

The urgent need to ensure refugees’ language rights through interpreting ser-
vice provision shows the five cluster items that were mentioned the most:

1. Need for specific training for language rights provision in refugee crisis
context (mentioned in 100% of cases)
2. Need to specify standard situations of interpreters working with refugees
at the border-crossing points (mentioned in 91% of cases)
3. Need to specify factors that might complicate the interaction between
hosting country officials, refugee/forced migrant/asylum seeker, and in-
terpreter (mentioned in 87% of cases)
4. Need to specify the most typical difficulties the interpreters encounter
(mentioned in 83% of cases)
 10

5. Need for extra-linguistic knowledge that is a must for the interpreter who
works with refugee/ forced migrant/asylum seeker (mentioned in 76% of
cases)
These percentages were not sensitive to the cultural background or profes-
sional certification of an interpreter. To specify key elements within each cluster
a case-based factor analysis was conducted.

Regarding the (1) need for specific training, it was identified that there was a
need for

- due attention to the interpreting issues from local administration (men-

tioned by 99% of the interpreters),
- interpreters as such (mentioned by 99% of the interpreters),
- for professionals with specific language pairs (mentioned by 98% of the
interpreters),
- forced migrant/refugee-oriented training of interpreters (mentioned by
56% of the interpreters),
- refugee minors-focused training of interpreters (mentioned by 52% of the
interpreters),
- standards of interpreting on forefront lines of migration itineraries (men-
tioned by 43% of the interpreters).
The last three points were all mentioned by certified specialists and were not
cared about by the volunteers.

Regarding the (2) need to specify standard settings for working with
refugees, the following situations were identified:

- registration procedure (mentioned by 99% of the interpreters),

- interviews with refugees to determine their resettlement (mentioned by
86% of the interpreters),
- interviews with refugees to collect information about encountered risks
and required assistance and protection (mentioned by 75% of the inter-
preters),
- consultations or conversations with doctors or psychologists (mentioned
by 56% of the interpreters),
 11

- refugee minors-focused training of interpreters (mentioned by 52% of the

interpreters),
- interviews to identify facts of violence and torture and to obtain additional
information about the consequences of abuse (mentioned by 54% of the
interpreters).
The last two points were mentioned by certified specialists and not by volun -
teers.

Regarding the (3) factors that might complicate their activities, the following
were identified:

- differences in gender (mentioned by 99% of the interpreters),

- differences in religion (mentioned by 98% of the interpreters),
- differences in political convictions (mentioned by 87% of the interpreters),
- differences in social status (mentioned by 79% of interpreters),
- differences in age (mentioned by 43% of interpreters).
It was established that the origin of the language service provider and their pro-
fessional status are statistically significant in this cluster.

Regarding the (4) most typical language difficulties, the following factors
were identified:

- the speaker uses a specific slang/dialect and does not clearly pronounce
words (mentioned by 99% of the interpreters),
- the speech is not logically constructed (mentioned by 81% of the inter-
preters),
- the interpreter understands the general meaning of the words but cannot
render them into the target language due to culturally bound usage of
language (mentioned by 73% of the interpreters),
- the speaker uses an excessive number of pronouns, making it hard to
understand the subjects of meaning (mentioned by 42% of interpreters),
- the speaker uses offensive or culturally unacceptable language (men-
tioned by 39% of interpreters),
- the speaker is emotionally unstable (mentioned by 28% of interpreters).
The professional status was statistically significant in this cluster.
 12

Regarding (5) necessary extra-linguistic knowledge, the following points

were mentioned:

- administrative knowledge (mentioned by 94% of the interpreters),

- sociocultural knowledge regarding the regions from which the refugees
come (mentioned by 86% of the interpreters),
- psychological and communication skills (mentioned by 68% of the inter-
preters),
- ability to maintain impartiality and neutrality (mentioned by 47% of the in-
terpreters),
- awareness of interpreters’ responsibilities (mentioned by 36% of inter-
preters).
The professional status was statistically significant in this cluster.

3.1 Conclusion

The findings of the paper lay the ground for some recommendations regarding
providing linguistic assistance to refugees Most importantly one must not forget
that refugees need the service and aid of interpreters right after crossing the
border of a host or transit country. This means that it is necessary for access to
these services to be provided by the local administration which includes for ex -
ample health care services, accommodation providers, and police. For this ser-
vice to be done properly the administration needs to consider the most required
language pairs locally

It was also confirmed that escalating refugee influx has caused new challenges
to emerge and new ways of providing language services to refugees to be im-
plemented. The migration crisis, especially in 2015, has led to an unpreceden-
ted wave of support and engagement of refugees by non-professionals in the
language service industry. This of course causes the rethinking of traditional
practices and issues such as loyalty, impartiality, and confidentiality because
newcomers in interpreting can “experience psychological and ethical difficulties
due to Diversity-Sensitive Discourses in varied refugee settings” (Atabekova, et
al, 2017; Brander de la Iglesia, 2017; Cáceres Würsig, 2017; Rosario Martín
Ruano, 2017). The de-professionalization of PSIT during emergencies is also
 13

discussed and expressed in academia (Tipton, 2017; Gentile, 2017). Due to the
above-mentioned situations, specific attention is required to train interpreters for
relevant settings.

The case-based needs analysis helps identify ways of improving the coopera-
tion of Academia and Industry in terms of launching specific courses for inter-
preters working with forced migrants, refugees, and especially refugee minors.
(Atabekova et al., 2017). These should be offered as CPD modules, which
stands for “Continuing Professional Development”. These CPD modules should
cover “interpreting through refugees’ registration procedure, techniques for in-
terpreting interviews with a refugee for diverse purposes, including information
about risks and abuse they might have encountered; required measures regard-
ing administrative/legal/medical assistance; interpreters’ interaction with doctors
or psychologists to identify physical and psychological conditions of refugee/
forced migrant/asylum seeker, and training to overcome specific language diffi-
culties they might face” (Atabekova et al., 2017).

It is also crucial to train interpreters in knowing and understanding the adminis-

trative and legal information provided on international documents and to know
about the procedures which determine the refugees’ status, rights, and respons-
ibilities. Another important issues to include in the training is providing the inter-
preters with information regarding resettlement procedures and the historical,
geographical, administrative, political, sociocultural, and religious character of
the origin countries of migrants. (Atabekova et al., 2017).

The teaching of psychology and communication techniques, as well as how to

maintain impartiality and neutrality and how to deal with refugee minors play an-
other important role in further development in knowing how to deal with the up -
coming challenges in migration settings. (Atabekova et al., 2017).

All of the above underlines the importance of further research and empirical
studies in the field to be able to map out all the diverse scenarios and patterns
of behaviour of the ones working in the field. This will help in educating and im-
plementing ways to help the authorities in hosting or transit countries towards
complying with the international rules of language service provision. (Atabekova
et al., 2017).
 14

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 18

Erklärung

Ich versichere, die von mir vorgelegte Arbeit selbstständig verfasst zu haben. Alle
Stellen, die wörtlich oder sinngemäß aus veröffentlichten oder nicht veröffentlichten
Arbeiten anderer oder der Verfasserin/des Verfassers selbst entnommen sind, habe ich
als entnommen kenntlich gemacht. Sämtliche Quellen und Hilfsmittel, die ich für die
Arbeit benutzt habe, sind angegeben. Die Arbeit hat mit gleichem Inhalt bzw. in
wesentlichen Teilen noch keiner anderen Prüfungsbehörde vorgelegen.

Anmerkung: In einigen Studiengängen steht die Erklärung am Ende des Textes.

Köln, 29.07.2022

Ort, Datum Rechtsverbindliche Unterschrift