Case Study 1: Refugee Claim

The interpreter and the client are both sitting in the consultant's waiting room, as the consultant is running late. They strike up a conversation in the client's language, Spanish, while they wait.

[All in Spanish]

Interpreter: So, you're making a refugee claim?

Client: Yes. I came to Canada to escape this gang that was targeting me in Honduras, Mara 18. I wouldn't join them and so they started to threaten me, and one time a few of them even attacked me as I was walking home from work. They tried to beat me up, but I ran away. It happened twice, and both times I got away, so I came to Canada to try to get away from them before something worse happened.

Interpreter: Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. When did that happen?

Client: They've been trying to get me to join since I was 15.

The consultant comes out of her office.

Consultant: Sorry for the delay, I'm ready for you now.Interpreter translates into Spanish.

Consultant, interpreter, and client all go into the office.

Consultant: So you're here about making a refugee claim. Can you tell me what happened and why you're afraid to go back to Honduras?Interpreter translates into Spanish.

Client[in Spanish]: Mara 18, they've been trying to get me to join since I was young. They attacked me many times when I said no. I'm afraid if I go back, they'll keep harassing me and might even try to kill me or my family.Interpreter translates into English.

Consultant: I see. When did all of this start? How long has it been happening?Interpreter translates into Spanish.

Client[in Spanish]: They started trying to recruit me when I was 13, I think.

Interpreter[in English]: He said that they started trying to recruit him when he was 13. We talked about it in the waiting room though, and there he said it began when he was 15.

Consultant: Oh I see. Thanks for letting me know. I'll note that down.

Consultant: So, the way this works is we need to fill out some forms, and eventually, you will have to have a hearing at the Immigration and Refugee Board so that they can assess your refugee claim.Interpreter translates into Spanish.

Client[in Spanish]: What happens at a hearing? How long does it take?

Interpreter[in Spanish, to client]: It means that you'll have to explain your situation to a government official and they will decide whether or not you should get refugee protection.

Client[in Spanish]: Oh, okay.

Consultant[rambling]: For the hearing, they will assess whether or not your situation falls in the refugee definition. Generally, people can get refugee protection if they have a well-founded fear of persecution in their home country based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. For your claim, it would be about a particular social group, because you were targeted by Mara 18, and also about political opinion. There are also different criteria for "persons in need of protection" so it might fall under that definition too, so we have a few things we can try to argue... Although, we should just talk about one at a time, so let's just start with the first points about your particular social group and political opinion.

Interpreter[in Spanish]: To show you're a refugee, we'll explain that you are afraid of being targeted in Honduras, because you belong to a particular social group, people who reject Mara 18's recruitment, or because of your political opinion.

The meeting proceeds. Near the end of the meeting, the consultant's phone rings.

Consultant: Hello? [Pause] Oh, okay shoot. Okay, hold on. [In English, to interpreter] I'm sorry, I really need to take this. All that's left is going through and explaining the basis of claim formcan you do that quickly? Just translate it into Spanish and explain what the parts of the form mean and what they're asking for.

Interpreter: Sure.

Consultant: Great, thank you!Consultant leaves the room.

On another day, the same interpreter is back working with the consultant and the client. Before the client arrives, the interpreter is talking to the consultant.

Interpreter: After that last meeting, I talked to my friend from Honduras. He said that Mara 18 isn't as big in Honduras anymore, so he said that Jose shouldn't really be afraid to go back. He also said that he didn't believe Jose would be able to get away from an attack like that, or even that they would try to attack him, that it didn't sound like the way they do things.

Consultant: Hmm, okay, good to know. I'll have to look into that more and talk to him.

Discussion Questions

We will give the parties names to make it easier to refer to them. The client is Jose. The consultant is Samantha, and the interpreter is Fredrico.

For questions 1 through 4, you may develop your own list -- but if you find that several items overlap with your colleagues' lists, please try to identify at least one item that has not been identified yet.

Group 1:Identify as many errors as you can regarding the way in which the interpreter Fredrico has carried out his duties - just identify his errors, not the correct approach (that is Group 2).