Migrant translators require ‘LGBT sensitivity training’ because they risk affecting asylum claims with their unconscious bias, committee of MPs claims
- The Women and Equalities Committee made the recommendation in a report
Migrant interpreters should undergo ‘LGBT sensitivity training’ because they risk influencing asylum claims with their own unconscious bias, a committee of MPs has claimed.
The Women and Equalities Committee made the extraordinary recommendation in a report calling for better treatment of asylum seekers by increasing taxpayer-funded support.
It claimed that interpreters can ‘adversely affect’ asylum claims and should receive diversity training to avoid ‘application of stereotypes’ for gay and transgender claimants.
It also called for their benefits to be boosted by a third, legal aid for help challenging deportations to be increased and for children to be exempt from the Rwanda asylum deal.
But it sparked a backlash, with critics branding the recommendations ‘woke’. One senior Tory MP said: ‘We have to end this woke nonsense and the idea that we can counter perceived unconscious bias by adopting politically correct policies, which actually threaten to prohibit perfectly sensible opinions.’
Migrant interpreters should undergo ‘LGBT sensitivity training’ because they risk influencing asylum claims with their own unconscious bias, a committee of MPs has claimed
The Women and Equalities Committee made the extraordinary recommendation in a report calling for better treatment of asylum seekers by increasing taxpayer-funded support
Sir John Hayes, chairman of the Common Sense Group of Tory MPs, said: ‘We grant far too many asylum claims. It’s not just about deterring people who aren’t legitimate that we need to focus on, but also raising the bar in what we perceive as an appropriate case’
Sir John Hayes, chairman of the Common Sense Group of Tory MPs, added: ‘We grant far too many asylum claims. It’s not just about deterring people who aren’t legitimate that we need to focus on, but also raising the bar in what we perceive as an appropriate case.’
The report said it had ‘heard allegations’ that people claiming asylum based on gender and sexual orientation can be disadvantaged by ‘biased or prejudiced interpreters’. Charity Rainbow Migration was among those the committee spoke to.
It told MPs that some interpreters were deliberately providing a poor service because of their own prejudices ‘for example, by mistranslating, rebuking or judging people’.
The committee report concluded: ‘We recommend the Home Office establish a programme of religious impartiality and LGBT sensitivity training for all language interpreters on its approved list.’
Meanwhile, weekly support payments to asylum seekers should be increased from £45 to ’70 per cent of the standard over-25s rate of Universal Credit’. This would boost it to more than £60 a week for an individual.
The committee is chaired by Tory MP Caroline Nokes.
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