Refugees 'failed by translators'

Refugees face a bewildering array of new situations

Inconsistencies in the way interpreters are used is threatening the fairness of asylum applications, a report warns.

Formal hearings often use interpreters to translate what an asylum seeker says word for word.

But in other situations the translator might be invited to use their own cultural knowledge as part of the application process.

The study, at London's Goldsmiths College, found this had a major impact and could threaten "just outcomes".

Author Dr Moira Inghilleri told BBC Radio 4's Today programme interpreters played a variety of roles.

"I'm more community-based interpreting. Interpreters often get involved in a more advocacy role, where they are actually helping the client understand the system," she said.

"In the asylum process you have a variety of contexts, some being of the more formal kind...but there's a lot of grey area involved.

Too much reliance was sometimes put on interpreters for "political and cultural information", she warned.

Dr Inghilleri said there should be more consistency in the role of the interpreter.

"Asylum is a very unique kind of context for interpreting. It doesn't neatly fit into categories as they are presently constructed.

"[Interpreters] might be getting mixed messages from what they learned and what's expected from other professionals in the field, and also applicants.

"It would be helpful all round if it was clear for them and those working with them what their job is in such a context."

Dr Inghilleri added: "Problems of inconsistency or inaccuracy that may originate in any one context will have a potentially enduring effect on an applicant's asylum claim and an applicant's perceived credibility."

Future research, also funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, aims to explore the report's findings and recommend potential improvements.

Meanwhile, the Home Office has been accused of ignoring evidence that asylum seekers have been tortured.

The Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture accused officials of making "unsubstantiated, sometimes baseless assumptions" before dismissing refugees' claims.