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 climate change and environmental justice, and helped recent immigrants access social services and obtain work permits.
In total, the team completed 336 hours of interpretation and a whopping 168,880 words of translation (plus an additional 59 pages that didn't have a word count).
Good news!
In August, a Haitian family represented by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, San Francisco received asylum! Respond interpreters made it possible for the family and their lawyer to communicate.
And just last month, a Haitian man being represented by Lawyers for Good Government received a Withholding of Removal (WOR) under the Convention Against Torture and was released from immigration detention and reunited with his wife and little girl on Christmas Eve! Respond translated the client's declaration, and made it possible for him and his lawyer, Jessica Riley, to communicate.
Jessica told us:
"This was my first time representing a Haitian client in court, and I learned so much from all of you. From your team members who would explain not only what words meant but relevant cultural context, to you giving such valuable feedback on our written translations, your support was invaluable. Because of your help, not only is this client free, but I feel more prepared to take on the next case."
Other projects
The Haitian Creole Team proofread and translated some sections of this phenomenal resource by the NYU Global Justice Clinic: Mining Free Haiti (English) or Ayiti Kanpe Min (Kreyòl). It explores the history of metal mining in Haiti; human rights, environmental, and health dimensions of mining; and current grassroots resistance to mining.
The team also translated a Request for Precautionary Measures to the IACHR on behalf of people held in pretrial detention at the National Penitentiary in Haiti who are at risk of cholera.
The team helped the Global Strategic Litigation Council for Refugee Rights incorporate the expertise and opinions of grassroots groups in Haiti into an amicus brief requesting an IACHR Advisory Opinion on climate change and migration in the Caribbean.
For Brown University's John Carter Brown Library, the team translated and subtitled this engaging discussion between scholars and New York Times journalists on the independence debt Haiti was forced to pay France.
Our superhero simultaneous interpreters provided interpretation for many important events. This included the Haitian Studies Association's keynote lecture, Dr. Leslie Alexander, on "The Cradle of Hope: How Haitian Independence Inspired the Birth of Black Internationalism in the United States"; a virtual panel on the grassroots canal mobilization on the Haiti-Dominican border; and another virtual panel on the Kenyan intervention in Haiti. We also provided simultaneous interpreting for the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti on topics such as rule of law in Haiti, women's rights, and foreign intervention.
The team interpreted many mental health sessions for both trauma victims and sexual assault victims.
Finally, the Haitian Creole Team did interpretation for La Gonave Haiti Partners to help with the structuring of a mobile clinic in La Gonave and hopefully in other areas of the country.
From Laura Wagner, zanmi of the Haitian Creole Team:
“Thank you to our entire team for all their hard work, patience, and grace – taking last-minute interpretation requests, dealing with traumatic stories, translating documents with little turnaround time. We are so grateful for everything you do. Kenbe fèm!”