Petition: Urge the UN to protect translators and interpreters worldwide
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| | | Protection agains what? | Oct 13, 2019 |
Dear Vanessa
I really would like to sign the petition but I am totally blind regarding the "dangers" against translators. I will appreciate your clarification and little feedback to get involved.
Best
| | | | DZiW (X)
Ukraine
English to Russian
+ ...
| Translators and Interpreters -vs- Translators and Interpreters | Oct 15, 2019 |
As far as translators and interpreters are but foreign language users, I see no big difference: some people like something whereas others prefer something else; some believe in one thing whereas others believe in other...
Consciously or not, people promote something, disdaining other things--while a third party makes biz on them.
Meanwhile both translators and interpreters just translate somebody else's words.
| | | | | Protection agains what? | Oct 17, 2019 |
Joel Pina Diaz wrote:
Dear Vanessa
I really would like to sign the petition but I am totally blind regarding the "dangers" against translators. I will appreciate your clarification and little feedback to get involved.
Best
I have been working as an UN interpreter for years. As you can imagine, UN works in warstriken or conflict areas. It can be very dangerous. I was once a hostage to angry villagers in Bosnia. I didn't provoke this, I didn't insult anyone, they were just angry and drunk and they hated entire world at that moment and I was there, on the spot, so why not take an interpreter as hostage? This situation lasted for 16 hours, and it couldn't be resolved. Eventually, HR at that time, Mr. Wolfgang Petrich, come to the spot, from Sarajevo, with chopter, and to the rescue. So, there is a good reason to sing this document, at least for me.
Sorry, I didn't have time to finish this post yesterday. Anyway, as UN interpreters, people are translators as well. There is a lot of translating there: news, police reports, medical reports. So, translator or interpreter, in this particular case, it is the same and that is how it affects translators as well as interpreters. As for you DZiW, I have been trying to read your post, but when I click on see more, nothing happens and anyway, this is not a place to discuss about politics. If you do not like my choices of jobs, that is your right, but let me tell you that I have only 2 big and real regrets in my life, both were my decisions and both are still hunting me. Working for UN is not one of them.
[Edited at 2019-10-18 07:01 GMT]
| | | | DZiW (X)
Ukraine
English to Russian
+ ...
| Casus belli: Humanitarian bombing | Oct 17, 2019 |
Lidija, how come that you know the history of (1) "Deliberate Force" (August-September 1995) and (2) a campaign "Allied Force" (aka "Noble Anvil"; March-June 1999) without UN authorisation (directly vetoed by Russia and China), which was descr... See more Lidija, how come that you know the history of (1) "Deliberate Force" (August-September 1995) and (2) a campaign "Allied Force" (aka "Noble Anvil"; March-June 1999) without UN authorisation (directly vetoed by Russia and China), which was described as a depleted Uranium "humanitarian intervention", and (3) you're aware of casualties and consequences, yet still you seem to wonder why those angry drunk people just took you hostage to let you live, I wonder?
And besides the people with other degrees/specialties and children, how about all those Yugoslavian translators and interpreters who died without a veto right or a rescue chopper?
By the way, knowing several languages often makes wonders while reading or watching papers and listening to sources--just check numbers only in English and Russian wiki, for example.
Withheld truth vs Fake news.
[Edited at 2019-10-17 14:04 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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| Protecting Translators | Nov 9, 2019 |
Hopefully this is not off topic, but while we’re speaking about our protection, financial scams are becoming more popular. Two agencies (1-deadbeat agency, 2- a phishing scheme) left me empty handed last summer.
The second variation is the “I wired you too much money” scam. A book translation is presented to the translator and a prepayment is made, which is more or less customary. My own terms are 1/3 now, 1/3 at the midpoint and 1/3 at completion. However the scammer then sends doub... See more Hopefully this is not off topic, but while we’re speaking about our protection, financial scams are becoming more popular. Two agencies (1-deadbeat agency, 2- a phishing scheme) left me empty handed last summer.
The second variation is the “I wired you too much money” scam. A book translation is presented to the translator and a prepayment is made, which is more or less customary. My own terms are 1/3 now, 1/3 at the midpoint and 1/3 at completion. However the scammer then sends double the agreed upon amount (for example) by bank deposit, a rubber check and often on Friday afternoon. The bank can’t verify existence of the funds, you see. Meanwhile the client urges the translator to forward the amount to a third party.
My bank wisely refused to do anything despite hourly emails to “send it! Did you send the funds”? Of course by Tuesday it was clear to see “Scam”. If the translator is unaware then he or see sends money to the third party from their own pocket, so beware. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray 
Netherlands
Local time: 18:31
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| Note: this petition is specifically about physical protection during military and police operations | Nov 9, 2019 |
For those who can't be bothered to click the link, this "news" story is a 4-year old petition by a couple of large, well-known translator associations. They want the UN to give translators and interpreters the same protection in conflict situations (i.e. war, police operations, etc.) that journalists currently get.
So the "protection" here refers to the right to expect (through international law) that belligerents provide protection for translators, against mostly physical harm and... See more For those who can't be bothered to click the link, this "news" story is a 4-year old petition by a couple of large, well-known translator associations. They want the UN to give translators and interpreters the same protection in conflict situations (i.e. war, police operations, etc.) that journalists currently get.
So the "protection" here refers to the right to expect (through international law) that belligerents provide protection for translators, against mostly physical harm and undue harassment. It relates specifically to translators (both foreign and domestic) who are present in conflict zones or surroundings and doing work that relates to such conflict or operations.
The petition also mentions "humanitarian", but from the way it is written, I infer that this does not mean humanitarian crises due to natural disasters etc. but primarily due to conflict.
[Edited at 2019-11-09 10:25 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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