Interpreting for International Protection Seekers in the Mediterranean Region: A Comparison of the Problems and Needs Identified by Stakeholders in Malta and Spain

Abstract

Despite the increasing perils involved, more and more migrants and asylum seekers try to reach Europe every year by crossing the Mediterranean Sea. Those who manage to survive come ashore along the coasts of the southernmost countries of Europe, namely Italy, Greece, Spain, Cyprus and Malta (UN, 2023). These countries have a duty to ensure the dignity of those migrants reaching their borders, to uphold their human rights and to facilitate their integration in the host society. For these purposes, the work of professional interpreters becomes essential. This paper analyses the language-related needs and problems faced by the main entities responsible for attending international protection seekers in Malta and in Southern Spain. It also proposes some possible forms of alleviating the situation. The data provided is based on the results obtained from a qualitative study involving semi-directive interviews with the said entities

Full text

Entreculturas 15 (2024) pp. 38-60 — ISSN: 1989-5097
Interpreting for International Protection Seekers
in the Mediterranean Region: A Comparison of the
Problems ad Needs Identified by Stakeholders in
Malta and Spain
Mariana Relinque
Universidad Pablo de Olavide (España)
Recibido: 19 de enero de 2024
Aceptado: 15 de febrero de 2024
Publicado: 30 de mayo de 2024
ABSTRACT
RESUMEN
Despite the increasing perils involved, more and more
migrants and asylum seekers try to reach Europe every year by
crossing the Mediterranean Sea. Those who manage to survive
come ashore along the coasts of the southernmost countries of
Europe, namely Italy, Greece, Spain, Cyprus and Malta (UN,
2023). These countries have a duty to ensure the dignity of
those migrants reaching their borders, to uphold their human
rights and to facilitate their integration in the host society. For
these purposes, the work of professional interpreters becomes
essential.
This paper analyses the language-related needs and problems
faced by the main entities responsible for attending
international protection seekers in Malta and in Southern
Spain. It also proposes some possible forms of alleviating the
situation. The data provided is based on the results obtained
from a qualitative study involving semi-directive interviews
with the said entities.
KEYWORDS: asylum, interpreting, international protection,
migration, refugee.
A pesar de tener que enfrentarse a incesantes peligros, cada vez
más personas se lanzan a cruzar el Mediterráneo para buscar
asilo y refugio en Europa. Aquellos que consiguen sobrevivir,
alcanzan las costas de los países del sur, es decir, Italia, Grecia,
España, Chipre y Malta (UN, 2023). Estos países tienen la
obligación de asegurar que esos migrantes sean tratados con
dignidad, que se respeten sus derechos humanos y que se
facilite su integración en la sociedad, para lo que resulta esencial
contar con intérpretes profesionales.
El trabajo que aquí se presenta analiza las necesidades
lingüísticas y los retos a los que tienen que enfrentarse las
principales entidades encargadas de atender a las personas
solicitantes de protección internacional en Malta y en el sur de
España, y plantea algunas posibilidades para mejorar la
situación actual. Los datos analizados han sido extraídos de una
investigación cualitativa en la que se realizaron entrevistas
semidirigidas en las entidades mencionadas anteriormente.
PALABRAS CLAVE: asilo, interpretación, migración,
protección internacional, refugiado.
(CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) Esta obra está bajo licencia internacional Creative Commons Reconocimiento-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 4.0.

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1. Introduction
Each year, more and more people embark on perilous
journeys due to conflicts, disasters, environmental
degradation, poverty and violation of human rights.
According to UNHCR's Global Trends report (2023), in 2022
108.4 million people worldwide were forced to leave their
homes. That was 19 million people more than in 2021. This,
in turn, led to an increase in the global number of asylum
and refugee applications from 27.1 million in 2021 to 35.3
million in 2022—the largest interannual increase ever
recorded, largely attributable to the war in Ukraine.
Most people in need of international protection remain
close to their countries of origin in the hope of eventually
being able to go home. Many, however, dream of reaching
Europe, an increasingly difficult goal given the EU’s
tendency to implement ever more restrictive migration
policies aimed at preventing these people from reaching its
borders (CEAR, 2023).
Despite the growing obstacles they have to face, a
swelling number of migrants and asylum seekers still
attempt to reach the European coast, usually by embarking
on an increasingly perilous journey across the
Mediterranean Sea. Their main destination points are the
southernmost regions of Europe, namely, Italy, Greece,
Spain, Cyprus and Malta. As a result, these countries find
that the number of migrants and asylum seekers reaching
their coasts are now rising every year (CEAR, 2023; UN,
2023). From January to September 2023, 186,000 people
arrived by sea in Italy, Greece, Spain, Cyprus and Malta,
representing an increase of 83 per cent in comparison to the
same period in 2022.
One result of these growing migration flows has been an
increased need for translation and interpreting in migration
settings, as such services prove essential in helping migrants
and asylum seekers to overcome cross-linguistic and cross-
cultural barriers. They also help facilitate their integration
into the host society and safeguard their language rights
(Wallace and Hernandez, 2017). Despite the relevance of the
work carried out by translators and interpreters, however, in
many countries no specific training is required for
interpreting in this particular context and no consensus
seems to exist on the role of interpreters or the demands
made of them (Pöllabauer, 2004). As this paper will show,
there is therefore an urgent need to professionalise
interpreters to work in such settings.
2.
The Mediterranean Migratory
Routes
The main migratory flows into the EU are through the
Mediterranean Sea. This is considered one of the most
dangerous ways to reach continental Europe because it is sea
crossings that usually result in the highest number of deaths
and disappearances (Girone and Lollo, 2011). Three different
migratory routes have been identified in the Mediterranean
Basin: the Western Mediterranean route, the Central
Mediterranean route and the Eastern Mediterranean route.
Migrants and asylum seekers taking the Western
Mediterranean route have Spain—especially Andalusia, the
southernmost region in the Iberian Peninsula—as their main
destination. This route was the most frequent way for
migrants to reach Europe until 2020, when numbers began
to decrease due to international migration containment
policies, the supervening Covid-19 pandemic, and other
factors (European Council, 2023a). According to Frontex
(2023), 10,401 people attempted to reach Europe illegally
via this route from January to September 2023. Most of these
migrants were Moroccan (5,578 people), followed at a
distance by Algerians (3,379 people), Guineans (283 people),
Syrians (231 people) and other groups from different sub-

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Saharan countries.
Migrants taking the Central Mediterranean route, the
deadliest route in the region (IOM, 2023), try to reach the
coasts of Italy and Malta. From January to September 2023,
the number of people attempting to reach these countries
was as high as 13,1630. The principal countries of origin of
these migrants were Guinea (14,885 people), Côte d'Ivoire
(14,036 people), Tunisia (11,294 people), Egypt (8,402
people) and a mixture of other, mainly sub-Saharan,
countries.
Lastly, the Eastern Mediterranean route was taken by
36,099 migrants attempting to reach Europe in that same
period. In this case, the main destination point was Greece.
The countries of origin of these migrants were Syria (10,100
people), Palestine (4,213 people), and Somalia (2,518
people), followed by a mixture of other countries.
Due to their geopolitical locations, Malta and Spain, the
countries on which the present study is focused, have thus
clearly become two of the main gateways used by migrants
and asylum seekers wishing to reach Europe by sea
(Frontex, 2023). More details of the migration situations in
these two countries are given below.
2.1.
Malta: Key Destination Point for the Central
Mediterranean Route
The number of migrants and asylum seekers using Malta as
a gateway to Europe increased significantly after this
country joined the EU in 2002. In fact, Malta is now the
second country in the EU with the highest percentage of
migrant population, second only to Luxembourg (Eurostat,
2023).
Over the last 10 years, Malta has experienced a constant
increase in immigration flows, the peak being 28,341 in 2019.
Even though immigration flows fell drastically coinciding with
the Covid-19 pandemic, the most recent national census,
taken in 2021, showed the number of migrants living in Malta
to be 115,449. This represents 22.2% of the country’s total
population (Malta National Statistics Office, 2022).
The majority (81%) of the migrants arriving in Malta in
recent years came from African countries, with the rest (19%)
coming from Asian countries. The most common countries of
origin for these migration flows were Eritrea, Syria, Sudan and
Egypt (ibid., 2022).
International protection procedures in Malta have in general
followed the same patterns as migration. Over the past decade,
23,400 asylum applications were filed in the country, with a
maximum of 4,090 being registered in 2019. In 2021, a total of
1,517 applications for international protection were registered,
a decrease of 38.9% compared to 2022. This reduction was
mainly due to the migration policies adopted by the EU and to
the Covid-19 pandemic. Most asylum applications in the last few
years have been submitted by citizens of Sudan, Syria, Libya,
Bangladesh, Somalia, Eritrea and, most recently, Ukraine (Malta
National Statistics Office, 2022; Prague Process Secretariat,
2023).
As mentioned earlier, Malta receives migration flows via the
Central Mediterranean route (Frontex, 2023). Migrants and
international protection seekers using this route to enter the EU
embark on long, dangerous journeys from North Africa and
Turkey. The vast majority of them pass through Libya on their
way to Europe, and this has contributed to the development of
well-established, long-lasting human smuggling and trafficking
networks in that North African country. Indeed, in February
2017 EU leaders approved new measures to reduce the number
of irregular arrivals via this route and committed themselves to
increasing cooperation with Libya to combat migrant smuggling
(European Council, 2023a). In this scenario, Malta occupies a
strategic position for saving lives on the Central Mediterranean
route, responding to displacement crises and combating the
smuggling of migrants and trafficking of persons off the Libyan
coast.

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2.2.
Spain: Key Destination Point for the Western
Mediterranean Route
Spain, too, plays a key role as a migrant-receiver country in
the EU (IOM, 2022). In 2022, Spain ranked second in the EU
for the number of migrants arriving there illegally (CEAR,
2023). Unsurprisingly, Spain's relationship with migration
flows from the African continent is significantly conditioned
by its geographical position adjacent to northwestern Africa,
making it the main destination for African citizens both from
the Maghreb and from western sub-Saharan areas (Spanish
Ombudsman, 2021). This is reflected in the numerous
episodes of mass migratory arrivals that have taken place in
recent decades, an ongoing process which, according to the
Spanish Ombudsman, has existed in the past, exists now and
will continue to exist in the future (ibid., 2021).
With regard to international protection, in 2019 Spain
ranked third in the EU (behind Germany and France) in
terms of the number of asylum applications received
(118,264) (CEAR 2022; Eurostat 2022). The number of
asylum applications fell in the following years due to the
impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, delays in obtaining
interview appointments and moving through the reception
system, and differing criteria regarding international
protection procedures (CEAR, 2022; IOM, 2022). However,
despite the difficulties involved in accessing the asylum
procedure, in 2022 Spain registered a record of 118,842
asylum applications, 80% more than the previous year. The
steady upward trend that started in 2012 therefore
continues (CEAR, 2023).
Within Spain, the arrival of migrants is a particularly
pressing issue in the southernmost regions of the country,
namely Andalusia, the Canary Islands, Ceuta, and Melilla,
with Andalusia and the Canary Islands constituting the main
destination points for those travelling by sea (Martín-Ruel,
2021; Spanish Ombudsman, 2021). A distinction can be made
between two main maritime gateways to Europe through
Spain, one corresponding to the Western Mediterranean
route and the other to the Western African route in the
Atlantic Ocean (European Council, 2023b).
Andalusia, on which this paper focuses, has become the
main destination point for migrants taking the Western
Mediterranean route, above all for geopolitical reasons
(Frontex, 2023). In 2021, the region ranked third in the
number of asylum applications received in Spain (6,902
applications), behind Madrid and Catalonia (CEAR, 2022),
climbing to second in 2022, when only Madrid received more
applications (CEAR, 2023). The Andalusian provinces that
received the highest number of applications were Malaga,
Seville, and Almeria. With regard to nationalities, most of the
migrants arriving in Andalusia by sea were from Morocco,
followed by people from Algeria, Guinea, other sub-Saharan
African countries and Syria (Frontex, 2023).
However, the arrival of migrants entering Spain through
Andalusia has slowed down since March 2022, due mainly to
the cooperation agreements on migration signed by Spain
and the EU with Morocco and other countries like Senegal,
Niger and Mauritania, where border control and surveillance
of the migrant population have now been increased (CEAR,
2023).
The restrictions imposed on this route resulted in an
upward trend in migration via the Western African route,
with an increase in the number of irregular arrivals in the
Canary Islands—despite this being one of the world’s
deadliest routes (Fidalgo and García, 2022). The number of
migrant arrivals via this route reached its peak in 2006, when
almost 32,000 migrants came ashore in the Canary Islands.
Since then, the flow of migrants has increased continuously.
Between January 1 and October 15 this year (2023), the
islands received 23,537 migrants, an 80% increase
compared to the same period last year (European Council,

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2023b; Reuters, 2023). This confirms that the strengthening
of EU restrictive measures, far from solving the problem,
encourages the use of riskier alternatives: whenever one
route is closed, another more dangerous route is activated
(CEAR, 2021).
In conclusion, the migratory routes in the Mediterranean
are still very much active, to the extent that the situation
must now be talked about not as a migratory crisis, but as a
structural phenomenon of geographical migratory flows
that cannot be addressed from an emergency perspective
(CEAR, 2021). In this scenario, the work of professional
translators and interpreters becomes essential and should
therefore be monitored and regulated.
3.
Methodology
The work presented here is based on a research project
carried out by a group of researchers from the Universidad
Pablo de Olavide (including the author of this paper). In this
study, twenty interviews were conducted with personnel
from nine entities in Andalusia (southern Spain) and eleven
in Malta which provide assistance for migrants and
international protection seekers. All the people interviewed
were either responsible for hiring interpreters or needed
the services of interpreters in order to do their jobs. The
research objective was to explore the needs, the functioning
and the interpreting requirements of entities dealing with
refugees and asylum seekers. The idea was to collect specific
information regarding the entities’ translating and
interpreting needs, how they covered those needs, the
languages for which they needed translation and/or
interpreting, the characteristics and shortcomings of the
interpreters/translators they habitually worked with, and
the profiles they would ideally like their
interpreters/translators to have.
Following a qualitative research method, the
researchers involved in the project created a questionnaire
of open-ended questions which served as a basis for the
semi-structured interviews subsequently carried out with
the different entities. The questionnaire comprised a total of
thirty-nine open-ended questions: seventeen on
interpreting, seventeen on translation, four on training and
interaction with translators and interpreters, and one last
open question on potential areas for improvement. Once the
questionnaire had been prepared, semi-structured
interviews were conducted with each of the entities. Each
interview lasted for approximately one hour. Since the
research method used was qualitative, the interviews were
conducted not only to obtain information from the
interviewees, but also to gain an insider (emic) view of their
needs, attitudes, and issues (Corbetta, 2003).
The interviews were recorded, with the consent of the
interviewees, and anonymously transcribed to obtain real,
reliable data that could be used in the research. The
information was then processed, following the research
technique known as content analysis, which allows
researchers to “determine the presence of certain words,
themes, or concepts within some given qualitative data” and
to “quantify and analyse the presence, meanings, and
relationships of such certain words, themes, or concepts”
(Columbia Public Health, 2022). Although obtaining
generalisable data is more complex using a qualitative
approach than in quantitative research, the qualitative
approach provides a basis for building hypotheses and
theories.
3.1.
Interviews in Andalusia
Nine interviews were carried out in Andalusia: five in Seville
and four in Almeria. The interviews in Seville were
conducted between January and March 2019. Four of the

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interviews were held with two people at a time, so a total of
nine people took part, including a head of general training
for migrants, a psychologist, a centre manager, a lawyer, the
head of a translation and interpreting service, a centre
coordinator, two people in charge of the international
protection program, a social worker, and the head of a legal
department. For data protection purposes, the entities
involved will hereafter be referred to as entities A, B, C, D
and E. The interviews in Almeria were carried out by the
author of this paper between May and July 2022. In this case,
two interviews were held with one person, one interview
was held with two people, and one interview was held with
a group of seven people, making a total of eleven
participants: four heads of translation and interpreting
services, three cross-cultural mediators, a centre manager, a
lawyer, a psychologist, and a social worker. The four entities
consulted in Almeria will hereafter be referred to as entities
F, G, H and I.
It should be mentioned that three of the four entities
interviewed in Almeria were different branches of the same
entities interviewed in Seville, each with their own specific
needs and characteristics. It should also be mentioned that
two of the entities interviewed, one in Seville and one in
Almeria, provide assistance for unaccompanied minors.
The profiles of the entities consulted vary quite
considerably in terms of the length of time they have been
active in this field and the number of people they attend to,
offering a wide variety of possibilities. All of them, however,
have one thing in common: although they previously had
offices in other parts of Spain, they have all either opened
offices in Andalusia or considerably increased the services
they offer in this region in the last 10-15 years.
3.2.
Interviews in Malta
Eleven interviews were conducted in Malta by the author of
this paper between June and September 2021. Unlike in
Andalusia, in Malta all the interviews except for one were
individual. A total of twelve people were interviewed: three
project coordinators, two directors, two assistant directors,
one CEO, one chief of mission, one programme manager, one
operations assistant and one support worker. For data
protection purposes, the entities involved will hereafter be
referred to as entities MA, MB, MC, MD, ME, MF, MG, MH, MI,
MJ and MK.
As occurred with the entities interviewed in Spain, the
profiles of the entities interviewed in Malta again vary quite
considerably in terms of the length of time they have been
active in this field and the number of people they attend to.
However, it is important to note that the entities interviewed
in Malta have very different characteristics from those
interviewed in Andalusia.
Firstly, whereas the Spanish entities interviewed provide
a more cross-cutting service—that is to say, they attend to
the different needs of international protection seekers from
their arrival right through until their application is
resolved—in Malta this only happens with four of the entities
interviewed, the other seven focussing more on covering
specific needs of protection seekers (legal aid, housing,
money, social assistance, etc.). Another noteworthy
difference is that most of the Maltese entities interviewed
tend to work on a project basis, something that does not
occur with the Spanish entities. Finally, while all the entities
interviewed in Spain were independent NGOs, in Malta two
of the entities interviewed were government-funded.
Despite these differences between the two countries and
the entities interviewed, we believe that a comparison of the

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results obtained in the different interviews may provide a
broader picture of the situation and contribute to a better
understanding of the interpreting needs and problems
encountered in this context in the Mediterranean region.
4.
Analysis
This section analyses the responses obtained in the
interviews regarding the major themes in the questionnaire:
the languages the entities usually use to communicate with
the refugees and asylum seekers, the types of interpreters
they work with, the problems they face, and the skills they
think interpreters working in this field should have.
Some relevant results of the interviews in Andalusia
have already been disseminated in several publications (see
Briales and Relinque, 2021; Martín-Ruel, 2020; Relinque
and Martín-Ruel, 2022 and Relinque and Vigier-Moreno,
2023). This analysis therefore begins with some comments
on the results obtained from the research carried out in
Malta, which have not yet been published. The results of the
research carried out in Andalusia will then be summarised
and the results obtained in the two regions will be compared.
4.1.
Languages Required in International
Protection Scenarios
The questions in the first part of the questionnaire asked
about the languages for which the entities needed
interpretation, whether they required specific varieties or
dialects of those languages and which languages they used as
lingua francas. The information collected is presented below.
4.1.1. Languages Required in Malta
Although the different entities acknowledged that their
needs vary as different conflicts emerge throughout the
world, they said the languages for which interpreting
services were most frequently needed were the following
(those that were specifically commented upon by the
interviewees are highlighted in bold):

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Table 1. Languages Required in International Protection Scenarios in Malta
Entity
African Languages
Amharic
Arabic
Bambara
Bengali
English
French
Hindi
Parsi
Somali
Spanish
Sudanese
Swahili
Tigrinya
Urdu
MA
x
x
x
x
x
x
MB
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
MC
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
MD
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
ME
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
MF
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
MG
x
x
x
x
x
MH
x
x
x
x
x
x
MI
x
x
x
x
x
x
MJ
x
x
x
x
x
MK
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
As can be seen in the table, the most frequently
requested languages are Arabic, French, and different
African languages, especially Tigrinya. It was found that
French, Arabic, English and even Maltese (due to its
similarity with Syrian and Libyan Arabic) are often used as
lingua francas to communicate with people seeking asylum
or protection. Most of the interviewees mentioned that they
always try to find interpreters who speak the migrants’
languages. However, they also acknowledged that, due to
their limited resources and the small size of their country,
this is often a hard task, hence their need to resort to lingua
francas. One last point of interest is that most of the entities
agreed that the interpreters they work with are usually from
the same country or share the same mother tongue as their
clients, but the interpreters of French are usually Maltese
who speak or have studied French.
4.1.2. Languages Required in Andalusia
As in Malta, the needs of the entities vary depending on the
conflicts that may arise around the world. Notwithstanding,
the languages for which interpreting services were most
frequently needed were reported to be the following (those
that were specifically commented upon by the interviewees
are highlighted in bold):

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Table 2. Languages Required in International Protection Scenarios in Andalusia
Entities
Afghan Languages
African Languages
Arabic
Armenian
Bambara
Chinese
English
French
Georgian
Russian
Tamazight
Tigrinya
Ukrainian
Urdu
Wolof
A
x
x
x
x
x
x
B
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
C
x
x
x
D
x
x
x
E
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
F
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
G
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
H
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
I
x
x
x
x
x
x
Despite the variability of language needs, in Andalusia
nearly all the entities clearly have a need for French, Arabic,
African languages, Russian, Ukrainian and English. As in
Malta, the interviewees mentioned that French, Arabic,
English, and even Russian are often used as lingua francas to
communicate with people seeking asylum or protection,
although this occurs only in routine cases, for administrative
expediency or in emergency situations, and only when
permitted by the cultural level of the person involved.
According to the interviewees, lingua francas are not used in
more important situations, such as interviews with
psychologists or lawyers. All the entities agreed that the
interpreters they work with usually have the same mother
tongue as their clients, except in the cases of English and
French, where interpreters may be Spanish or European
citizens who speak those languages.
4.1.3. Languages Required in International Protection
Scenarios: Comparison
All the entities consulted clearly need to communicate in a
wide variety of languages. Both in Malta and in Andalusia,
however, the use of African languages, especially sub-
Saharan languages, stands out. The use of lingua francas,
especially Arabic, French and English, is also noticeable,
although, according to the responses obtained in the
interviews, their use is less widespread in Andalusia than in
Malta, where the size of the country and the limited
resources restrict the possibility of finding interpreters for
the languages required.
One notable difference between the two regions is that in
Andalusia there was already a need to communicate in

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Ukrainian and Russian even before the beginning of the war
in Ukraine, and that, at that time, Russian was already used
as a lingua franca, something that did not happen in Malta.
Another striking difference is the use of Maltese as a lingua
franca in Malta due to its similarity to Syrian and Libyan
Arabic.
4.2. Interpreter Profiles in International
Protection Scenarios
Another part of the interview directly addressed the profiles
of the interpreters the entities usually work with, with
special attention to the training and professional experience
of those interpreters. The results obtained are presented
below.
4.2.1. Interpreter Profiles in Malta
To overcome language barriers, the entities operating in Malta
mainly resort to their own employees who speak the language
of their clients or a lingua franca, or to volunteers and ad hoc
interpreters, who are usually migrants, other refugees,
connections, members of the community (community leaders)
or university students who speak the required language. They
also rely on family members and friends, but only in less formal
situations or when they have no other way of communicating
with their clients. Only two of the people interviewed said they
try to avoid using members of the clients’ community as
interpreters, particularly when they are dealing with especially
sensitive cases.
Six entities claimed to have their own pool of interpreters
made up of individuals with whom they have successfully
worked before and people who have acquired experience
working with other entities. This means that most entities
working in this field in Malta share the same pool of
interpreters. Moreover, when those entities who don’t have
their own pool of interpreters require interpreting services,
they usually call for interpreters who have experience of
working with the other NGOs.
In most cases they don’t know the qualifications of the
interpreters they work with, but they acknowledge that they do
not usually have any formal training in translation and
interpreting. It is also remarkable that only one entity has a
person with university training in translation and interpreting
on its staff.
It is noticeable that only one entity claims to hire
interpreters through the European Asylum Support Office
(EASO), which is located in Malta. This is particularly
interesting, as the entity in question thinks that the EASO
provides professional interpreters, whereas what the EASO
actually does when it receives their call is to contact different
translation agencies to ask for interpreters, particularly one
agency in Italy, one in Spain and one in Belgium. EASO too,
therefore, knows nothing about the interpreters’ qualifications
or training, as the agencies do not provide this information.
The entities in Malta conceded that it is very difficult to find
formally trained interpreters for most of the languages they
require. Only Maltese interpreters have official training in
interpreting, but they can only be hired for European languages.
These interpreters are usually hired by the government-funded
agencies, while the NGOs prefer to resort to interpreters who
are conational with their clients because, even when speaking in
French, they say, “they don’t speak the same French” as
university graduates. One form of training that is quite sought
after by these NGOs is the cultural mediator course offered by
the Maltese government, even though this course does not
include any training in interpreting. This proves that, for the
entities interviewed in Malta, the difference between an
interpreter and a cultural mediator is blurred. However, the
people interviewed declared that even among those who have

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taken this cultural mediator course it is difficult to find
interpreters for the less common languages.
To summarise, the entities operating in Malta trust more
in the experience of interpreters than in their qualifications,
especially experience acquired through providing
interpretation services for the Ministry for Home Affairs, for
other government agencies or for other NGOs.
4.2.2. Interpreter Profiles in Andalusia
Whenever possible, the entities in Andalusia try to overcome
language barriers by using either their client’s language or, if
the education level of their client allows it, one of the previously
mentioned lingua francas. If they require a language their
employees are not familiar with, or for more serious
interpreting tasks, they will make use of external, paid
interpreters, either hiring them through agencies or, in the case
of three of the entities interviewed, resorting to their own pools
of interpreters.
The entities interviewed don’t know the training or
background of the interpreters hired through agencies, as
agencies do not provide this information. Neither do they know
the training or qualifications of the interpreters included in
their pools, which are usually made up of people they have
worked with before or with experience of working with other
entities. It is remarkable that only two of the entities
interviewed employ in-house interpreters, who also perform
other tasks apart from interpreting.
As for ad hoc interpreters, the entities said that they only
turn to them in one-off situations and for less important
interpreting tasks, such as routine visits to the doctor,
administrative processes, etc. Ad hoc interpreters are usually
university students with a very good command of two
languages, foreigners who have lived in Spain for a long time,
other refugees or, on exceptional occasions, family or friends.
4.2.3. Interpreter Profiles in International Protection
Scenarios: Comparison
In both countries, the first resource the entities turn to is
members of their own staff who can communicate either using
the client’s language or, more frequently, using a lingua franca.
The big difference comes when they have to resort to external
resources. The Spanish entities tend to contact agencies, while
the entities in Malta look for volunteers or contact interpreters
in their own pool of interpreters.
One common feature of the entities working in both
countries is that they hardly ever employ qualified interpreters
as part of their permanent staff and they usually know nothing
about the qualifications of external interpreters. However, most
of them acknowledged that the interpreters they usually work
with do not have formal training in interpreting.
Finally, it was found that the Maltese entities tend to depend
more on volunteers and ad hoc interpreters than their Spanish
counterparts, who said they call in such personnel only for less
formal interpreting tasks. It should be mentioned here that,
although their knowledge of languages can be very helpful in
some situations, these volunteers and ad hoc interpreters
usually lack the training and skills necessary to interpret in this
context. Even though they make an effort to compensate for
their lack of professionalism with motivation and involvement,
their participation may give rise to problematic situations
(Martín-Ruel, 2020).
4.3. Problems with Interpreting Services in
International Protection Scenarios
In the next part of the questionnaire, we asked about the
problems the entities experienced with the interpretation

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services they used and the factors which, in their opinion, led
to those problems. The results obtained are shown below.
4.3.1. Problems with Interpreting Services in Malta
The table below shows the most frequent problems faced by the
people interviewed in Malta.
Table 3. Problems with Interpreting Services in International Protection Scenarios in Malta
Entities
Availability
Professional
Competence
Linguistic Competence
Conflicts of Interests
Budget
Gender
Ethnicity
Cultural Aspects
Official Bodies
MA
x
x
x
x
x
x
MB
x
x
x
x
MC
x
x
MD
x
x
x
x
x
ME
x
x
x
x
x
x
MF
x
x
x
MG
x
MH
x
MI
x
x
x
MJ
x
x
MK
As can be seen, the main problem for the entities in Malta is
availability. Most of the people interviewed remarked that as
Malta is a small country, it is difficult to find interpreters for
less-spoken languages who are suitable for the task they are
required to perform. Moreover, as the same pool of interpreters
is used by all the services, including the different NGOs, the
police, the hospital, and the Government, those people who are
suitable for the task of interpreting are not always available.
The NGOs also mentioned that trained interpreters are usually
occupied with international entities or with the government, so
it is difficult to book them for one-off jobs, emergencies or short-
notice requirements.
Linguistic competence and professional competence are the
next problematic areas listed in the ranking. Linguistic
competence problems are mainly due to the fact that some
clients are expected to speak a given language just because they
come from a particular region or country, even though it may
not be their first language or they may not even understand it.
The interviewees also mentioned difficulties arising from the
varieties of the languages spoken by their clients—particularly

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in the cases of French or English, as European French and
English differ considerably from the French and English spoken
in Africa. Problems are also encountered with the use of lingua
francas (Relinque and Martín-Ruel, 2022).
With regard to professional competence, the entities
consulted mentioned a wide range of problems: interpreters
that get everything wrong, interpreters with no knowledge of
the appropriate terminology, interpreters who exceed the
remit of their role or intervene inopportunely, interpreters
who show too much empathy or who lack empathy,
interpreters whose translations are much shorter than the
clients’ statements, interpreters who conduct parallel
conversations with the client, interpreters who ask or answer
questions themselves, interpreters who add personal opinions
or translate messages even though they have not understood
what has been said, etc.
Another relevant problem the entities have to deal with are
conflicts of interests. As mentioned earlier, there is a group of
interpreters in Malta who work for different actors in the
international protection field. These interpreters therefore
meet the same clients in different scenarios, and this may
compromise their fidelity to the message expressed and their
confidentiality. Conflict of interests also arises when
interpreters belong to the same community as the client: some
clients are reluctant to open up because they don’t want their
community to know everything about them. In other cases,
problems arise with community interpreters because the
dividing line between personal and professional relationships
is not clearly defined. Here, the fidelity to the message and the
confidentiality of interpreters from the clients’ own
communities should be questioned.
Gender problems, although not that common, affect not
only male interpreters but also female interpreters. On the one
hand, there is a problem of availability, as for many languages
there is a shortage of female interpreters; on the other hand,
some male clients do not want to speak to female interpreters
or professionals. Indeed, there are also some male clients who
do not want to speak to male interpreters.
Another problem worthy of attention concerns difficulties
experienced with official bodies in Malta, especially courts.
According to the people interviewed, English-speaking clients
from Africa do not understand the Maltese English spoken in
such official bodies, just as French-speaking clients from Africa
do not understand the French spoken by the court interpreters,
who are usually Maltese interpreters who speak European
French. It was also highlighted that the official bodies resort to
anybody who speaks a particular language, without considering
the interpreter’s competence or qualifications. Yet another
problem is that official bodies do not generally take into
consideration the migrants’ mother tongues: they often use
lingua francas and assume the migrants understand them,
which they often don’t, especially when official or legal language
is used. The interviewees also mentioned that the courts do not
always allow the NGOs to bring their own interpreters, and
migrants very often say that they do not understand the
interpreters appointed by the Commissioner for Refugees. This
being the situation, some of the people interviewed mentioned
that many international protection seekers, because they have
had such bad experiences with Government interpreters, prefer
to do their asylum interviews in English, even though their
English is not good enough, rather than doing them in their own
language. In other public services the problem is simply that no
interpretation services are offered for the languages spoken by
the migrants.
Some of the entities consulted mentioned ethnic problems,
citing the inevitable issues of trust (or the lack thereof) which
arise depending on ethnicity, tribe and nationality, especially
among migrants arriving from the Horn of Africa.
At this same level, cultural aspects also come into play, with
clients very often saying they understand things that they do not

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understand. According to the interviewees, many migrants
arriving from English- or French-speaking countries do not
want to admit that they do not speak English/French or that
they do not understand the English or French spoken in Malta.
Some of them are ashamed to admit that they cannot read or
write, while others do not understand the proceedings or how
to fill out the necessary forms.
Lastly, there are budgetary problems, especially when the
entities’ usual collaborators are not available or when they
work on a project-by-project basis. In these cases, the entities
cannot invest money in all the languages they may require and,
when one project finishes, they have no more money with which
to hire interpreters for the next one.
4.3.2. Problems with Interpreting Services in Andalusia
The following table shows the problems most frequently
faced by the entities interviewed in Andalusia:
Table 4. Problems with Interpreting Services in International Protection Scenarios in
Andalusia
Entities
Availability
Professional Competence
Linguistic Competence
Conflicts of Interests
Budget
Gender
Ethnicity
Cultural Aspects
Official Bodies
A
x
x
x
B
x
x
C
x
x
x
D
x
x
E
x
x
x
x
F
x
x
G
x
x
x
x
x
H
x
x
x
x
x
I
x
x
x
As it can be seen, the problems identified by the entities in
Andalusia are mainly related to the interpreter’s professional
competence. The interviewees said that some interpreters
make personal comments or value judgments, overstep the
interpreter's role, answer directly on behalf of the client or
even advise the client, conduct parallel conversations either
with the organisation’s representative or, especially, with the
client, and even break down on hearing the harrowing stories
told by international protection seekers. Some entities
complained particularly about the interpreters sent by one of
the translation agencies most frequently employed by the
Spanish public services.
Interpreter availability ranked second in the list of problems,
especially for less widely spoken languages and in emergency

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situations. Next came the linguistic competence of the
interpreters used: in some cases they do not master the
language variety spoken by their clients and in others they have
a low level of Spanish.
Although to a lesser extent, some entities also mentioned
difficulties related to gender, ethnicity, cultural aspects in
general, conflict of interests and budget. In the case of gender,
they said that, even though they usually take this into account,
they have had to tackle some cases of Arab men who did not
want to work with female interpreters or professionals, gay
clients or women who did not want to tell their stories in front
of male interpreters, or women who did not want male
interpreters in medical settings.
With regard to ethnicity, the entities interviewed
mentioned difficulties with Ukrainians who did not want to
work with Russian interpreters or refused to speak Russian
even though they knew that language (it is important to recall
that these interviews were conducted before the war in
Ukraine), clients who refused to work with an interpreter from
an ethnic group that had attacked theirs, conflict between
people from Mali and Senegal or between Moroccans and
Algerians, confrontations between the Mandinka and other
ethnic groups, etc.
Turning to cultural aspects, one of the entities mentioned
problems with sub-Saharan clients who did not feel identified
with or represented by Moroccan interpreters, sub-Saharans
clients who said they understood what they were being told but
who did not really understand it, etc. It should be noted that
these problems were only mentioned by one entity. Most of the
entities interviewed stated the opposite: that is to say, that the
interpreters they employed usually help them to resolve or
avoid cultural conflicts.
Budget problems and conflict of interests were only
mentioned occasionally. One conflict of interest arose when a
client met the same interpreter that he/she had met during an
interrogation by the police. This generated mistrust and the
client refused to speak through that interpreter. With regard to
budget problems, the entities interviewed confirmed that
thanks to the UE funds they receive it is not too difficult for them
to hire interpreters for international protection seekers.
Finally, some entities said they encountered problems with
official bodies. It is noteworthy that these problems were
mentioned by the entities located in Eastern Andalusia, but not
in Western Andalusia. They were mainly related to the
Andalusian Health Service, and especially its clinics, which
sometimes did not have access to interpreters. On other
occasions, the telephone interpreting service provided by the
Andalusian Health Service did not work or the clinic staff did not
want to attend clients using this service and told the client to
return another day with someone who spoke their language.
The entities in Eastern Andalusia also mentioned a lack of
sensitivity and cultural tolerance in the City Council and in the
Social Affairs office, which, according to the people interviewed,
are not prepared for international protection despite having
been receiving international protection seekers for years. This
seems to coincide with the situation in other parts of Spain
(León-Pinilla, 2018; Pena Díaz, 2015; Valero-Garcés, 2003).
4.3.3. Problems with Interpreting Services in
International Protection Scenarios: Comparison
It seems clear that the main problems encountered by the
entities interviewed in Malta and in Spain are the professional
competence and availability of interpreters, especially for less
widely spoken languages. Once again, this demonstrates that
there is a lack of professional interpreters for the languages that
are most often required in the field of international protection.
Linguistic competence is another important issue in both
countries, although not as important as availability and
professional competence. All these problems indicate a need to

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monitor the language level of interpreters taking into account
both the variety of the language spoken by the clients and the
language spoken in the host country.
Interestingly, in both countries the entities interviewed
mentioned problems with official bodies, most of the problems
in Malta arising in the courts and those in Andalusia, and
particularly in Eastern Andalusia, being found in public health
service clinics and in the Social Affairs office. This might suggest
that there is a need to raise awareness of interculturality in
public entities.
Conflicts of interests are more frequent in Malta than in
Andalusia due to the size of that country and its limited
resources—factors which are also reflected in the budgetary
problems mentioned.
Although in both countries the entities interviewed stated
that they are always alert to cultural aspects in general, and
gender and ethnic problems in particular, on some occasions
they have had to deal with such issues, and due to the
availability difficulties mentioned previously, they sometimes
just have to work with the interpreters that are available.
4.4. Ideal Interpreter Profiles for International
Protection Scenarios
Once the entities had explained the services they need, the
characteristics of the interpreters they usually work with and
the problems they face, we asked them to reflect upon their ideal
interpreter profile for work in international protection. Their
answers are summarised below.
4.4.1. Ideal Interpreter Profile for Malta
The following table shows the skills most sought-after by the
entities interviewed in Malta:
Table 5. Ideal Interpreter Profile for International Protection Scenarios in Malta
Entities
Professionalism
Native Speaker
Command of Languages
Empathy and Confidence
Familiarity with
Users’ Culture
Reliability
Respect for Users
Professional Experience as an
Interpreter
Training in Cultural Mediation
Familiarity with the Asylum
System in Malta
Flexibility
Tone of Voice and Non-Verbal
Communication
MA
x
x
x
x
x
MB
x
x
x
x
x
x
MC
x
x
MD
x
x
x
x
x
x
ME
x
x
x
x
MF
x
x
x
x
MG
x
x
x
MH
x
x
x
x
x
x
MI
x
x
x
MJ
x
x
x
x
x
MK
x
x
x
x
x

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As can be seen, the most sought-after qualities are empathy
and confidence, familiarity with the user’s culture and
familiarity with the asylum system in Malta. These are followed
by command of languages, professionalism, reliability,
professional experience as an interpreter, training in cultural
mediation and native speaker. Lastly, we find flexibility, respect
for users, and tone of voice and non-verbal communication.
Interestingly, the most important skills, in the opinion of the
people interviewed, are confidence and empathy, especially
with gender cases and with children. The interviewees also
found knowledge of the client’s culture and familiarity with the
asylum procedure in Malta (context, proceedings, papers,
terminology…) to be quite relevant.
The entities operating in Malta also insisted on reliability
and trustworthiness, pointing out the importance of being able
to trust the interpreter and that the interpreter should listen
and faithfully translate exactly what is being said. The people
interviewed said they need to be sure that the interpreter
understands what is going on and what is being said.
Command of languages, especially of English and of the
languages spoken by clients, is also important. The people
interviewed said that their interpreters need to know both
English and their clients’ language and culture very well, and
have to be conscious of the cultural reality and the cultural
problems experienced in a particular country or region
(religion, behaviour, background, etc.). Here, however, we find
some discrepancies: some entities want to work with
interpreters who are native speakers or people from the
client’s own community, and therefore know the culture very
well, while others do not necessarily need interpreters who are
native speakers and even expressly stated that the interpreters
should not belong to the same community as the client.
With regard to training, some said the interpreters they use
would require some training in cultural mediation, with
particular reference to government-run training courses. Others
just spoke of “qualifications”. These answers are not included in
the table because they did not specify what sort of qualification
the interpreters should have. From the interviews, however, it
could be deduced that they were referring to some sort of
qualification in cultural mediation. Some of the people
interviewed also mentioned that they would not require
university degrees, as those people who act as interpreters for
non-European languages would not have time to qualify. It is
also interesting that no reference was made to training in
interpreting. On the other hand, experience as an interpreter in
the humanitarian field is highly appreciated.
The interviewees also valued professionalism positively,
although focussing more on the ethical side of the profession
than on technical aspects. Here, it was again made clear that they
do not clearly differentiate between cultural mediation and
interpreting.
Finally, the entities consulted also expressly mentioned
respect for users, timetabling flexibility, and tone of voice and
non-verbal communication (the different stages of asylum
proceedings are repetitive and interpreters are sometimes so
used to them that they may show boredom or even start looking
at their phones).
4.4.2. Ideal Interpreter Profile for Andalusia
The following table shows the skills most sought-after by the
entities interviewed in Andalusia:

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Table 6. Ideal Interpreter Profile for International Protection Scenarios in Andalusia
Entities
Professionalism
Command of
Languages
Training in
Interpreting
Empathy and
Confidence
Familiarity with
Users’ Culture
Respect for Users
Psychological
Preparation
Tone of Voice and
Non-Verbal
Communication
Professional
Experience
Training in Social
Education and/or
International
Protection
A
x
x
x
x
B
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
C
x
x
D
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
E
x
F
x
x
x
x
x
G
x
H
x
x
x
x
x
x
I
x
x
x
The results for Andalusia are reasonably balanced, although
the most sought-after qualities are professionalism, empathy
and confidence, and familiarity with the culture in question.
These are followed by command of languages, respect for users,
control over tone of voice and non-verbal communication,
training in interpreting, psychological preparation, training in
social education and/or international protection, and, lastly,
professional experience as an interpreter.
As these results have been analysed in detail in Relinque
and Vigier-Moreno (2023), here we will simply note that the
ideal situation for most of the people interviewed would be to
have their own employees trained in the languages required, so
that they would not need to rely on interpreters.
4.4.3. Ideal Interpreter Profile for International
Protection Scenarios: Comparison
It seems clear that empathy and confidence are highly
appreciated by the entities operating in both countries. As the
interviewees stated, in the international protection context it is
essential for migrants to be able to trust the interpreter and for
the interpreter to display a certain degree of empathy regarding
the client’s situation, without becoming too emotionally
involved.
Familiarity with the user’s culture is also quite important for
the entities in both countries, indicating that, in this field of
work, the dividing line between the figure of the cultural
mediator and that of the interpreter is fuzzy (Arumí Ribas, 2017;
Pöchhacker, 2008). This is even more noticeable in Malta than
in Andalusia, since, as mentioned earlier, in Malta some of the
entities prioritise cultural mediation training over training in

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interpreting.
Professionalism, too, ranks high in both countries. The
entities consulted in the study referred mainly to deontological
issues, such as interpreters being aware of the place and
situation they are in, not expressing value judgments or
opinions, being objective and impartial, not holding parallel
conversations or answering directly, knowing how to act in
each context/situation, etc. With regard to the interpreter’s
command of languages (another of the most sought-after
qualities in both cases), the entities in Spain specified the
command not only of lingua francas but also of those languages
for which they have a higher demand for interpreters. The
entities in Malta, however, referred mainly to the clients’
languages and to English, as sometimes they hire interpreters
who speak the client’s language properly but are not fluent in
English. Respect for users is also mentioned in both situations,
although this quality was expressed more overtly in Andalusia
than in Malta.
Some clear differences can be seen with regard to training
and experience. While in Malta entities tend to seek training in
cultural mediation, experience as an interpreter in the
international protection field and a good knowledge of asylum
procedures, these skills are hardly mentioned in Andalusia.
Admittedly, two entities in this region did mention training in
social education and/or international protection as a means of
broadening the interpreter’s knowledge of the reality of
international protection and improving the language services
rendered, and this could arguably be likened to the cultural
training and procedural knowledge mentioned by the entities
in Malta. Lastly, reliability was widely mentioned in the
interviews in Malta but was not expressly referenced in
Andalusia.
Conversely, the entities operating in Andalusia drew
attention to other characteristics hardly mentioned, or not
mentioned at all, in Malta, such as the tone of voice and non-
verbal communication, thereby attaching great importance to
in-person communication. Training in interpreting was also
mentioned in the interviews in Andalusia, although most of the
Andalusian entities emphasized the difficulty of finding
individuals with training in interpreting for the most sought-
after languages. These entities also talked about psychological
preparation, since the accounts given by their clients can be
harrowing and interpreters must be prepared to hear and
interpret their stories.
Finally, it is important to emphasize that the characteristics
mentioned above are considered ideal in the particular context
of international protection, which is quite different from the
reality of other types of interpreting such as conference
interpreting or business interpreting, where interpreters may
require different skills.
4.5. Results of the Analysis
The results of the analysis presented above indicate a series of
similarities and differences between the reality of interpreting
in international protection scenarios in Malta and in the south
of Spain.
The similarities include:
- High demand for interpreting in this field.
- Difficulty of finding interpreters for certain languages.
- French, Arabic and English are used as lingua francas.
- The interpreters’ mother tongue is usually the foreign
language, except in the cases of French and English.
- Knowledge of culture and language is preferred over
training or experience in translation and interpreting.
- Lack of training in translation and interpreting.
- Blurred line between interpreting and cultural
mediation.
- Trained interpreters do not form part of migrant
reception agencies’ staff.

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The main differences are:
- In Malta, there is a pool of interpreters shared by most
NGOs.
- NGOs in Malta trust references from other NGOs.
- In Malta, the entities have stronger links with the
different migrant communities.
- Entities in Malta depend more on volunteers or ad hoc
interpreters than those in Andalusia.
- In Andalusia, the NGOs operate more independently
and there is less contact between them.
- The entities in Andalusia make more use of translation
agencies.
In summary, despite these differences, the reality of
interpreting in international protection settings is quite similar
in both countries. Interpreting is considered an indispensable
tool, not only by the people who work for reception entities, but
also by international protection seekers themselves, both in
formal situations, like receiving legal or psychological
guidance, and in day-to-day activities, like finding a home or a
job. Special attention should therefore be paid to the provision
of this service.
5. Conclusions
The Mediterranean crisis is causing a massive influx of
migrants towards European shores. As a result, we now live in
plural societies in which people with different cultural and
linguistic backgrounds coexist and interact. In order to achieve
multiculturalism, it is essential to integrate migrants into the
host society, and public services and administrations must
therefore work to ensure coexistence and intercomprehension.
In this context, the work of interpreters is essential to avoid
communicative misunderstandings and social imbalances
between the parties involved. Interpreters help to eliminate
communication barriers that would otherwise be
insurmountable and make it possible for migrants to access
procedures under conditions of equality and justice.
However, there is a need to regulate and professionalise the
interpreting tasks performed in this field. To do this,
contributions are required from different spheres: from the
university, by training specialised interpreters in this sector;
from the public administration, by implementing and ensuring
the quality of interpreting services; and from companies, by
recognising that this is a very demanding profession that
requires properly trained professionals who must be
remunerated appropriately.
International protection constitutes an important niche of
employment for translation and interpreting graduates and for
migrants and refugees themselves. All of them, however, need
specialised training in this field. We again propose—as we did
in Relinque and Vigier-Moreno (2023) —two different training
courses. For urgent needs or for less widely spoken languages
for which it is very difficult (or impossible) to find interpreters
with a university degree in interpreting, we propose the
implementation of crash courses that would help ad hoc
interpreters to acquire some basics of the trade, including
training in principles of professional ethics and conduct (Briales
and Relinque, 2021; Otero, 2018; Universidad de Alcalá, 2023;
Universidad Pablo de Olavide, 2022). For the design and
implementation of these courses, help would be required from
the University. On the other hand, it would also be useful to offer
a specific master’s degree in interpreting in international
protection settings, focussing on more widely spoken languages
like French, English and Arabic which are already taught at
universities (and for which there exists a more stable demand,
especially as lingua francas). In these courses, special attention
should be paid to cultural mediation and to the different
varieties of the languages studied (Tryuk, 2020).
Considering that we are living in a time when humanitarian
crises are increasing and economic resources are scarce, we also

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Mariana Relinque
Entreculturas 15 (2024) pp. 38-60
consider that there is a need for collaboration between the
different actors that provide services in international
protection contexts at supranational level. In view of the many
similarities that exist between the needs identified in the
countries analysed, we think it would be interesting to create a
pool of interpreters within the EU or within the countries of the
Mediterranean Basin. A platform for interpreting could be
created, which would constitute a key aid to migration
management. All European entities and governments could
invest part of their budgets in such a project, and then benefit
from it by sharing their resources. This could be done thanks to
the possibilities offered by technology, following the example
of other apps or websites that already exist and which provide
different services for migrants and refugees throughout
Europe, such as The RefAid mobile app (RefAid, 2023). In such
a network, it would be important to ensure that the
interpreters are properly trained, and for this purpose we
propose the two types of training mentioned above.
In conclusion, migration is here to stay, so we need to be
looking at how we can build bridges to ensure integration. The
more we team up and collaborate, the stronger we will be and
the more we will achieve.
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