Communication Barriers in Refugees’ Access to Public Services and Good Practices in Refugee Interpreting
Gülfer Tunalı, Olcay Şener ErkırtayWhile people may migrate internationally for reasons such as work, education, or family reunification, many are forced to leave their countries due to much more tragic reasons, such as war, violence, and persecution, and may require assistance and support as refugees in the countries they reach. Türkiye is one of the countries hosting the highest number of refugees. Although refugees in Türkiye are granted access to services in education, healthcare, and legal fields, research has shown that they face challenges in accessing public services due to language barriers. Based on this, this study aims at developing a framework focused on social innovation by discussing a good practise example that facilitates refugees’ access to quality public services through translation and interpreting in Europe, and to promote social innovation initiatives in Türkiye. The study, which examines 128 academic articles, reports, project results, case documents, and good practise corpus, consists of two phases. In the first phase of the research, in accordance with the study’s objective, the challenges faced by refugees in the areas of education, healthcare, asylum procedure and legal aid in Europe were identified. It was revealed that refugees face significant challenges in accessing information, finding qualified interpreters, and collaborating with interpreters. In the second phase, based on the challenges identified and general good practise criteria, the evaluation criteria for good practises were set, and the solutions offered in Europe were evaluated as good practises. In this regard, the ‘Migrant-Friendly Hospitals’ project was presented as an example of good practise. The study offers an inclusive perspective by proposing criteria and strategies on how to evaluate and adapt good practises to the local context.
Mültecilerin Temel Hizmetlere Erişiminde İletişim Engelleri ve Mülteci Çevirmenliğinde İyi Uygulama Pratikleri
Gülfer Tunalı, Olcay Şener Erkırtayİnsanların çoğunluğu iş, eğitim veya aile birleşmesi nedeniyle uluslararası sınırları aşarak göç edebileceği gibi, savaş, şiddet, zulüm gibi çok daha trajik nedenlerle de ülkelerinden ayrılmak zorunda kalabilmekte ve ulaştıkları ülkede mülteci olarak yardım ve desteğe ihtiyaç duyabilmektedir. Türkiye de en çok mülteciye ev sahipliği yapan ülkelerden biridir. Türkiye’de yaşayan mültecilere eğitim, sağlık ve mahkeme gibi alanlarda erişim hakkı tanınmış olmasına rağmen, yapılan araştırmalarda mültecilerin dil engelleri sebebiyle temel hizmetlere erişimde çeşitli sıkıntılar yaşadığı ortaya konulmaktadır. Bundan hareketle bu çalışmanın amacı, Avrupa’da mültecilerin çeviri aracılığıyla kaliteli temel hizmetlere erişimini kolaylaştıran iyi uygulama örneğini tartışarak toplumsal yenilik odaklı bir çerçeve geliştirmek ve Türkiye’de toplumsal yenilik girişimlerini teşvik etmektir. Toplam 128 akademik makale, rapor, proje sonucu, vaka doküman ve iyi uygulama bütüncesinin incelendiği çalışma iki aşamadan oluşmaktadır. Birinci aşamada çalışma amacına uygun olarak öncelikle mültecilerin Avrupa’da eğitim, sağlık, iltica ve adli yardım alanlarında karşılaştığı zorluklar tespit edilmiştir. Mültecilerin en çok bilgiye erişim, nitelikli çevirmenin erişilebilirliği ve iş birliği konusunda zorluklarla karşılaştığı ortaya çıkmıştır. İkinci aşamada, bu zorlukları ve genel iyi uygulama kriterlerini temel alarak mülteci çevirmenliği alanında iyi uygulama değerlendirme ölçütleri oluşturulmuştur ve Avrupa’da sunulan çözümler iyi uygulama örnekleri olarak değerlendirilmiştir. Bu bağlamda ‘Migrant-Friendly Hospitals’ projesi iyi uygulama örneği olarak sunulmuştur. Çalışma, iyi uygulamaların yerel bağlamda nasıl değerlendirilebileceğine ve uyarlanabileceğine dair ölçütler ve stratejiler önererek kapsayıcı bir bakış açısını kazandırmayı hedeflemektedir.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that 117,3 million people are forcibly displaced worldwide due to various factors, such as war and persecution, as of 2024. Among these, 73% come from countries like Afghanistan, Syria, Venezuela, Ukraine, and South Sudan. Türkiye is one of the leading countries hosting refugees, with approximately 4,4 million foreigners legally residing in the country as of August 2024. Despite Türkiye’s legal provisions enabling access to services, including free interpreting services, studies reveal that many refugees still face significant barriers to accessing public services. Language barriers, for instance, prevent them from being aware of the services offered in areas such as healthcare, education, and legal procedures (Şan & Koçlu, 2018) and from making doctor appointments (AIDA, 2018). They also face difficulties in educational settings due to the fact that the classes are held in Turkish and the lack of catch-up classes for newly arrived students (AIDA, 2018). Furthermore, they experience discrimination, which forces them to abandon their education (Sever, 2020, s.2). Another significant difficulty is encountered in accessing professional interpreters. Even though SGDD-ASAM employs approximately 60 interpreters, and since 2017, the UNHCR has been providing interpreter support, it has been revealed that there are challenges in accessing professional interpreters, especially in smaller provinces. As a result, individuals registered as asylum seekers (AIDA, 2018), those with a refugee background (Erdoğan, 2021, s. 142; Polat Ulaş, 2021, s. 150) or bilingual staff working in Provincial Migration Administration Offices act as an interpreter (Doğan, 2017, s.246), which leads to the violation of confidentiality and negatively impacts the quality of the interpreting service provided (AIDA, 2018).
Taking into consideration all these challenges, it is an undeniable fact that there is a need to raise awareness and develop an inclusive translation policy for individuals speaking different languages to access quality services in Türkiye. Thus, this study aims to promote social innovation initiatives in Türkiye by discussing good practises that facilitate refugees’ access to quality services through translation and interpreting in Europe. With this aim in mind, the study seeks to identify the challenges faced by refugees living in various countries in Europe in accessing public services in education, healthcare, asylum and legal aid. It will then present a good practise initiative in Europe with the framework developed in accordance with the challenges detected and general good practise criteria.
To support the study, a comprehensive literature review was conducted, analysing 182 academic articles, reports, and case documents published from the early 1990s to September 2024. From these, 128 data sources that aligned with the research objectives were selected for detailed analysis. The study used sources from various international organisations, including the UNHCR, IOM, EU, OSCE, and EUAA, as well as databases such as Google Scholar, Semantic Scholar, PubMed, and Migration Hub.
According to the findings, there are three main challenges that refugees face in Europe: 1) Access to information, 2) Availability of qualified interpreters, and 3) Collaboration problems. The data revealed that many refugees lack knowledge of their rights and the services available to them. They often rely on friends and informal networks for information, which may not always be accurate or accessible. This gap leads to increased vulnerability and miscommunication. Another challenge lies in the availability of qualified interpreters. A shortage of interpreters proficient in rare languages creates barriers to accessing services. Financial constraints further limit the availability of professional interpreting services, forcing refugees to rely on untrained individuals. On the other hand, service providers and refugees often underestimate the role of professional interpreters, leading to ineffective communication and reliance on ad hoc interpreters, such as family members and friends, which can compromise the quality and confidentiality of the information shared.
Based on all these challenges, evaluation criteria of good practises consisting of 3 main criteria and 14 sub-criteria were developed, and the ‘Migrant-Friendly Hospitals’ project was selected as a case for this study. The ‘Migrant Friendly Hospitals’ project was analysed in terms of providing professional interpreters, including in rare spoken languages, organising training to enhance collaboration between parties, improving the quality of service, including interpreting service by raising cultural awareness and establishing quality control mechanisms for good practises.
