Migrant Crisis - "As translators, we’re there to reassure" (ENG)

April 2016

MSF166276

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Flüchtlingskrise – «Unsere Aufgabe als Übersetzer ist es, die Menschen zu beruhigen» - DE

Subt. German

A voix haute - "Notre rôle, comme traducteur (FR) : rassurer les réfugiés"

Migrant Crisis - "As translators, we’re there to reassure" (INT)

A Month in Focus - April 2016

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Unique Identifier Code / URN MSF166276

Date taken / Date Recorded 26/04/2016 12:00 AM

Country France

Commissioning section EUP

Usage Rights (MSF) MSF Fundraising, MSF Publications, Social Media

Formal Consent Copy available no

Editor's rating ★★★★★ (C)

Video format h264 (Constrained Baseline) (avc1 / 0x31637661)

Duration 2m14s

Maximum Size 1920px × 1080px 231.12 MB

Additional Information / Shotlist Ahmed was a French teacher in Aleppo. Under threat from the regime, he fled from Syria in 2012.
After spending two years with MSF in Turkey, he has now settled in France and works as a translator in the Jungle in Calais.
Almost all the migrants here left their countries because of the war.
And even though I came with a visa and didn’t take the same journey as them,
the circumstances were much the same.
It was really easy to understand them,
why they’re sad, why they’re angry and why they came here.
It helped the migrants a lot, to be able to trust us, and MSF.
They weren’t just people coming for a medical consultation.
They were looking for reassurance too.
And as translators, it’s our key role.
Take me, for example. I speak Arabic, but not Farsi or Pashtu,
so it’s really important to use other ways to communicate –
like keeping a smile on your face, shaking hands, giving someone who’s tired a tap on the shoulder.
Trying to get the message across, without using words.
I’ve seen other kids like him. Kids who should be in school, college or university,
who’ve lost everything back home,
who are looking for hope, for their families or a brother who’s in England.
They’re looking for somewhere to be safe.
And it’s really important for us at MSF in Calais to tell them we’re here for them.
If you’re sick, if you need to talk or just want to be in the warm.
Quite a few people come to see us, and not because they’re ill.
We understand, they really come because they’re looking for something.
And I’m so very happy they find it with us.
I don’t think I’ll ever forget any of this.
I’ll never forget there are people who really hurt.
Tonight I’ll go home to my family.
I’ll be in my home, I’ll have a shower, and go to bed.
Before, that was normal, but everything has changed.