Respond Blog
The Respond Hausa interpreter whose work helped asylum seekers win their cases: Meet Musa Abubabkar
Respond Crisis Translation’s client, Mr. B, was recently featured in an article in The Advocate after he was granted asylum in the United States following a traumatizing experience that forced him to leave his home country.
BREAKING: U.S. reps urge DHS to address major language access issues in the inhumane CBP One app
Earlier this month, on March 21, Representatives U.S. Representatives Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Jesús “Chuy” García (D-Ill.), and Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), and 27 other House representatives called on the Department of Homeland Security to address serious concerns …
Respond’s Arabic Team: supporting asylum seekers from Syria, Morocco, Libya, and Palestine
Respond Crisis Translation’s Arabic Team worked tirelessly in 2023, supporting hundreds of individuals seeking asylum and refuge, partnering with organizations on dozens of projects, as well as raising awareness around key language justice issues, throughout 2023 …
Respond’s Portuguese Team translated 56,000 words for Brazilian asylum seekers in 2023
In 2023, Respond Crisis Translation’s Portuguese Team worked on 62 cases, translated over 56,000 words, and interpreted for 61 hours. This work mostly concerned the translation of legal immigration documents.
The team also participated in a fascinating project with our partner Ashoka!
Several Haitian Asylum Seekers were Granted Asylum following interventions from Respond’s Haitian Creole Team in 2023
Respond Crisis Translation’s Haitian Creole (Krèyol) Team completed hundreds of projects in 2023 – of these, 60 were asylum and/or immigration cases. We also helped mental health professionals provide psychosocial support, worked on several projects related to …
Respond’s French Team helps clients win asylum cases in 2023
2023 has been a particularly difficult year, witnessing many upheavals and crises around the world, and the French Team, as always, has contributed to making the world a better place.
It was also a year of growth for the French Team, ending with a total of 106 linguists based in 30 countries around the world ..
Respond’s Marginalized Languages Team helped over 100,000 people access asylum information in 2023
The Less Frequent & Marginalized Languages (LFM) Team made huge strides in 2023 to uphold Respond Crisis Translation’s values in our fight against language injustices around the world, particularly for speakers of marginalized and Indigenous languages! The LFM Team is a truly global collective of language activists, with members across 86 countries representing over 100 languages!
Respond’s Spanish Team translated over 1 million words (and orally interpreted 200 hours) for refugees in 2023
Every project has a story, and most of the lives that we try to improve by providing language support are a true example of survival, resilience, and courage. Respond Crisis Translation’s Spanish Team worked on a huge variety of projects in 2023 …
Respond’s Afghan Language Team’s pro-bono asylum clinics achieve 100% success rate in 2023
The Afghan Languages Team accomplished remarkable feats in 2023.
We take pride in successfully concluding 951 projects, offering our assistance to nearly ten thousand individuals. Around the clock, we collaborated to provide language support across diverse areas such as immigration and asylum, legal matters, asylum clinics, education …
Two years after invasion, Respond’s Ukrainian translators help hundreds of Ukrainian asylum seekers, organizations
February 24, 2024, marked two years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Respond Crisis Translation’s Ukrainian and Russian (UA RU) Languages Team has been working around the clock since the invasion to support Ukrainian people fighting for their lives and freedom.
Respond client, family granted asylum!
A Respond Crisis Translation client who was politically persecuted in Venezuela was just granted asylum, alongside his family, after a year-long case!
LEGAL WINS! Respond clients receive protection
At Respond Crisis Translation, every win is hard-fought. Working at the frontlines of suffering, injustice, and violence worldwide, we cherish every success and piece of good news we receive about the clients we serve.
Here are two recent success stories that testify to the life-changing impact Respond's work has for these clients.
Translating Medical Documents to Protect Ukrainian Patients’ Right to Language Access
Over the past year, the Ukrainian team has translated medical documents for over fifty Ukrainian refugees with a wide range of conditions. These refugees all fled Ukraine to different countries, including England, Scotland, Poland, Czechia, Germany, Sweden, and France, due to the full-scale invasion (war) in February 2022.
Interpreting for dozens of speakers of Bissa, Oromo, Lingala and other marginalized languages last month
The Less Frequent and Marginalized Languages Team works in over 96 languages and includes 371 translators. And I would like to share the Amazing Work This Team Has Been Doing in June. Here are some updates and some projects we’ve been working on this past June.
Respond’s Spanish team translated 100,000 words for asylum cases in the first half of 2023 alone
I am happy to share with you some highlights of this year as we reached the half-way mark!
So far this year, we have completed the incredible amount of 425 projects. We have translated 101,182 words, most of which were in support of Human rights and Asylum cases. We have translated 615 pages, where asylum was also our main focus area.
Inside our work translating for Ukrainian refugees
Respond Crisis Translation Ukrainian and Russian teams have worked tirelessly around-the-clock since the start of the war on Russia in 2022. In this video, the head of our Ukrainian and Russian teams Tetyana Grygor'yeva shares her powerful experience leading this work
Celebrating our LGBTQ+ client’s asylum victory
It all started with this simple email request. Elizabeth Carlson, a supervising senior attorney at Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) reached out to our French team seeking French – English interpretation for an asylum case in immigration court in the United States. The client, who was from Africa, was seeking asylum based on his sexual orientation.
Uplifting Haitian voices speaking their native tongue: Respond helps bring sexual violence advocacy to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Late one Friday afternoon in early March, one of our partner organizations, the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), contacted me with an urgent request: to translate and subtitle a video from their Haitian partner organization, the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI) discussing the fight for justice for victims of sexual violence…
The Powerful Work of the Committed Turkish and Kurdish Team
By Valentina Callari Lewis
In addition to responding to the post-earthquake emergency, our Turkish and Kurdish teams continue their everyday work providing language support for asylum seekers.
Translating Housing Resources for Immigrants
“Immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers are particularly vulnerable to a range of human rights violations, including violations of the right to adequate housing. Displaced persons are also particularly vulnerable to discrimination, racism, and xenophobia, which can further interfere with their ability to secure sustainable and adequate living conditions.”