At the European level, the Council of Europe published a study which illustrates how to provide gender-sensitive interpretation.913 The Council also worked in collaboration with EASO to produce an animated video on the rights and guarantees for children during an age assessment procedure, with translations available for example in Bambara, Moroccan and Wolof, This initiative which was particularly welcomed for example by the Spanish Ombudsman.914
In an effort to continue its work programme during the pandemic, EASO was involved in the first remote resettlement exercise with Swiss authorities, which used remote interpretation services.915
To provide clear information to more applicants, Member States continued to produce material in more languages over 2020. For example, Latvia published a booklet in 12 languages with relevant guidelines on the asylum procedure in 2019 and translated it into an additional language in 2020, in line with assessed needs.916 In Lithuania, a website was developed for integration into the new society with information and step-by-step guides on access to the labour market, housing and access to social services. The website is available in English, Lithuanian and Russian – and for the first time, in Arabic and Farsi.917 On European Anti-Trafficking Day, Luxembourg published a new leaflet for potential victims of human trafficking in 15 languages, including Albanian, Arabic, Chinese and Tigrinya.918 Similarly, in Bulgaria the IOM developed brochures on human trafficking and voluntary return, which were translated into Arabic, Dari, English, Farsi (Persian) and Pashtu.
But in 2020, the greatest efforts were addressed at translating information related to the prevention of spread of COVID-19 into various languages. For example, special announcements and leaflets for residents were translated into all spoken languages in Cyprus. Similarly, in Romania an information leaflet was made available in Arabic, Bengali, English, Hindi and other languages spoken by applicants. In Italy, the Ministry of Health in collaboration with UNHCR and ARCI opened a portal in 14 languages to inform refugees, asylum seekers and migrants living in Italy about the COVID-19 emergency,919 supplemented by clarifications from cultural mediators.
In France, a new section on the immigration website included information on measures taken during the health crisis. The resources were made available in Albanian, Arabic, Dari, English, Georgian, Mandarin, Pashto and Russian, with an easy-to-read and understand tab in French (FALC, Facile à lire et à comprendre).920
Information leaflets on conscientious and responsible behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic were developed by the IOM and made available at Croatian detention facilities and reception centres in 26 languages: Amharic, Arabic, Bambara, Bengali, Chinese, Edo, English, Esan-Ishan, French, Fula, Hausa, Igbo, Italian, Kurdish-Sorani, Mandinkan, Pashto, Pigeon-English, Romanian, Russian, Somali, Soninke, Spanish, Tigrinya, Urdu, Wolof and Yoruba (see Section 4.9).
[913] Council of Europe. (2020). Gender-based Asylum Claims and Non-refoulement: Articles 60 and 61 of the Istanbul Convention. https://rm.coe.int/conventionistanbularticle60-61-web/1680995244
[914] Ombudsman | Defensor Del Pueblo. (2021, January 25). Determinación de la edad de menores extranjeros indocumentados [Determination of the age of undocumented foreign minors]. https://www.defensordelpueblo.es/otras-publicaciones/determinacion-la-edad-los-menores-extranjeros-indocumentados/
[915] European Asylum Support Office. (2020). EASO supports Switzerland in carrying out their first remote mission at the Resettlement Support Facility (RSF) in Turkey. /easo-supports-switzerland-carrying-out-their-first-remote-mission-resettlement-support-facility-rsf
[916] Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs | Pilsonības un migrācijas lietu pārvalde. (2020). Ceļvedis patvēruma meklētājiem Latvijā [A guide for asylum seekers in Latvia]. https://www.pmlp.gov.lv/en/asylummigration-and-integration-fund-2014-2020
[917] Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Lithuania | Lietuvos Respublikos vidaus reikalų ministerija. (2020, November 12). Sukurta pirmoji imigrantų integracijai skirta interneto svetainė farsi ir arabų kalbomis [The first website on immigrant integration in Farsi and Arabic has been set up]. https://vrm.lrv.lt/lt/naujienos/sukurta-pirmoji-imigrantu-integracijai-skirta-interneto-svetaine-farsi-ir-arabu-kalbomis
[918] Luxembourg Government | Le Gouvernement Luxembourgeois. (2020, October 16). Journée européenne de lutte contre la traite: les ministres Sam Tanson et Taina Bofferding proposent des actions concrètes dans la lutte contre la traite des êtres humains [European Anti-Trafficking Day: Ministers Sam Tanson and Taina Bofferding propose concrete actions in the fight against trafficking in human beings]. https://gouvernement.lu/fr/actualites/toutes_actualites/communiques/2020/10-octobre/16-bofferding-tanson-lutte.html
[919] JumaMap. (2020). Services for Refugees. https://www.jumamap.it/
[920] Ministry of Interior | Ministère de l'Intérieur. (2021, April 9). COVID-19 : Informations traduites pour les étrangers [COVID 19: Translated information for foreigners]. https://www.immigration.interieur.gouv.fr/Accueil-et-accompagnement/COVID-19-Informations-traduites-pour-les-etrangers/Covid-19-translated-information-for-foreigners
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