Café owner called to interpret family case
When I posted the article that came out in Metro yesterday on my profile (Link) I received a comment which I translate bellow from a Portuguese man in Liverpool who owns a café and is not an Interpreter or has had his criminal record checked, one more person used by the agencies who should have never been there:
Pedro wrote: "I was called once, to do a translation in a case of paternity. Even though it was only 30 kilometers away, it looked like an eternity and most of all a hassle to get there. I was called suddenly and what kept me focused, was to know that they were not going to cancel 12 people in a meeting and, postpone the fates of two small children, living in a hostile environment. I think it's a bit exaggerated that there are no translators in a shorter distance than 560 miles!"
When I spoke to Pedro he didn't know the difference between a Translator or Interpreter, he is not cleared to work with children. My friend didn't know this was wrong and the agency provided someone because we are boycotting them and appealed to his heart strings but as the saying goes "hell is full of good intentions" and ours is a profession that needs to be valued and respected, not something to do on the side to help people! If the system keeps being supported by people like this (be it innocently) nothing can change.... The fundamental rights of human beings will still be disrespected, children will be exposed to people without CRB checks or any sort of qualification. It's very sad when a Ministry of Justice of a country chooses to ignore these fundamental rights and the respect for human beings, and allows agencies to "scavenge" on people with good intentions who, unfortunately, are not interpreters.
