My work in RCT

by Dafnes Aly

Before becoming Project Manager of Respond's Portuguese Team, I worked as an interpreter with a Brazilian client and two pro bono lawyers from the USA. They didn't speak each other's language and needed to appeal the denial of his asylum application. His case took so long that his mental health was compromised. He was imprisoned and away from his family for more than five years, including his children. He tried to kill himself twice and was in a special area of detention.

Carlos*'s case was taking up so much time that they met him every week to check on his mental health, as well as to talk about the case. In our weekly conversation, we followed his moves between states and prison sessions. In the US, you go through different jurisdictions and different authorities and lawyers, depending on the state you're in. We also followed his situation of inadequate medical treatment and other daily violence.

Some examples of the violence he suffered, apart from being deprived of understanding what was going on because he didn't have an interpreter, were: excessive doses of medication that he didn't know what they were for and the deprivation of a cervical collar that he needed to hold his neck together when he tried to hang himself. He was being treated like a crazy person who had no control over himself. The way he was acting was just a product of the continuous violence he was going through.

We interpreters worked at their weekly meetings interpreting their conversations. This lasted about six months and we worked in pairs, taking turns so as not to overload our voices and brains. Not only did we share glossaries of specific terminology, but we also used to vent about all the dark experiences the client shared at each meeting.

We are trauma informed interpreters and have therapists available if necessary. But one thing struck us forever: the way the client smiled with his voice when he heard our voices in his language, making sure that he would be able to speak all the details that can only be explained in his native language. He was full of gratitude and hope again. He talked about the books he was reading, his plans for the future and some hobbies he used to have before prison.

Thanks to our interpreting services, he was able to help the lawyers not only with the details of his affidavit, but also by testifying in another case about some of the situations that occurred in one of the facilities he passed through. We helped another lawyer fight against an institution that was not compliant with human rights and thus prevented another human being from suffering various types of violence.

It was difficult to experience such cruelty. I mean, how can anyone treat another human being the way he was being treated? He had no idea what was going on, he was just there, in limbo, waiting for a translator or lawyer who could tell him what the next steps were.

It was sad but also rewarding, especially when we translated everyday conversations at these meetings. It's amazing how people just need to talk and we don't realise it because we're hardly ever away from people in our daily lives. We are social animals, and talking is also essential for our health. We've experienced some of the constant silence during the pandemic, but I can assure you it was nowhere near what this client was going through.

I would say that anyone interested in being part of building a better world to live in should learn more about the kind of treatment a human being can receive, especially in a different country, with a different language, context, law and culture. Knowing this specific story can make you see the people who are imprisoned as people. It's important to ask ourselves about something that can happen to all of us eventually, and we want our treatment to be respectful. We never know when a climate catastrophe, a political crisis or even a war might break out. It's time to put ourselves in these people's shoes.

Nobody deserves to be treated like something that is simply there, like a burden. Someone who isn't worth it and can therefore wait for years. Years of wasting the most precious days of your children's lives. Every minute in a situation where you have no control over what will happen feels like a whole year.

Zefitret Abera Molla, in her article for the Center for American Progress Action, points out that many asylum seekers simply don’t know that they have the right to an interpreter or translator. Valentina Callari Lewis goes further in her article for Teen Vogue when she debunks the idea of a lack of translator/interpreters. She says that she works with several talented interpreters/translators and that the real problem is the lack of funding for these services. She also analyses the technological solution that the government has provided at the US Customs and Border Protection to help migrants book appointments at points of entry:

“The problem is technological “solutions,” like the CBP One mobile application used by US Customs and Border Protection to help migrants schedule appointments at points of entry. All asylum seekers are now forced to undergo the process through this app, even though the app features only a handful of languages, is poorly translated and inaccessible.” 

When we work with asylum seekers, we are dealing with people who have suffered trauma. We need to avoid creating more violent processes. We need to make them feel that they have support now. All of Respond's translators and interpreters are trauma-informed and we have psychological help to deal with these indirect traumas that we receive in every job. Language rights are legally protected and we are willing to make this a reality everywhere.

The end of this story? We'll never know. And that's also frustrating for us as translators and interpreters. For the security of the data and the safety of our clients, we usually don't know many details and sometimes we don't even know their real names. In this particular case, his lawyers' university shift ended, so they needed to change lawyers and therefore choose whether to have interpreters or not and how they would continue working on this client's case.

*Pseudonym for security reasons