A passerby in Calais’ so-called “Jungle” will definitely hear a cacophony of languages – Farsi, Tigrinya, Kurdish, Pashto, Punjabi, Arabic, Amharic or Dari. Despite the fact that Calais is in France, no one speaks French in this makeshift community of immigrants. The name “Jungle” that was given to the area was a translation of the Pashto word “dzhangal” that means forest.
Currently, there are some 7,000 to 10,000 immigrants here, a huge camp just outside of the French Channel Port. Most of the migrants are desperate to reach Britain, thus one can hear a small amount of English being spoken. Their ultimate goal is just 31 miles from Calais.
Struggle between languages
The French have a distressful relationship with the English language. This alone creates tension especially in the Jungle where the need for professional interpreters is immediate. A volunteer from a Catholic charity said that her organization works with the immigrants in the Jungle. She said that her most recent experience was to help deliver a baby using a cellphone. The woman was from Sudan, she said, and the hospital called her because they were in the midst of a difficult birth and the woman cannot understand the midwife’s instructions. Thus the hospital put the phone on loudspeaker so she can translate.
Assistance from charities
Doctors without Borders or Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), an organization established in France, has been serving people caught in disasters and conflicts around the globe for more than 45 years. Franck Esnee, head of the mission in Calais said that it is the first time they have encountered a representation of the world in one camp. He said they were used to speaking two to three languages when they are on a mission. In Calais though, they are faced with a crisis where people speak between four to six languages.
MSF is the only charity working in the Jungle that has their own interpreters. They have six in their staff, and they were all migrants who came to France several years ago. Among them is Kais Rezai, an Afghan refugee. His family is in Britain now but he was placed in a host family in France. He now speaks perfect French and volunteers as a way of giving back to the community.
Trust over fear
Rezai said that an interpreter’s important task is to win the trust of migrants. These people harbor the fear of getting deported. They need assurance that the information they give the interpreters will not be given to the police or the state. There are racing against time at the moment since French President Francois Hollande announced that the Jungle will be razed by the end of 2016. There are rumors that the clearing of the Jungle will actually start in October. The immigrants will be sent to different refugee centers around France where they can start their application for asylum. The interpreters of MSF and the other charities now have the additional task of explaining what the migrants should expect when the buses come for them.
Need for more interpreters
Another support charity, L’Auberge des Migrants, said that the migrants pre-registering for asylum struggle to tell their stories in broken French or English and volunteers are called to help.
However, migrants also take advantage of the lack of interpreters, especially when they are accused of a crime. Police authorities said they cannot build a case against foreigners committing crimes as they claim to speak a rare dialect for which an interpreter is not easy to find.
References:
https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/32750695/calais-migrants-struggle-with-language-barrier/#page1
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/27/world/europe/calais-jungle-france-migrants.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calais_Jungle
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