UK told to stop translation services for immigrants

英国政府计划削减翻译服务 鼓励移民学习英语

　　21ST

　　英国政府官员近日表示，政府拟削减为移民提供的翻译服务，以鼓励他们学习英语，而节省下来的资金将被用来为英语水平不佳者开设英语学习课程。

　　UK Councils will be told to axe translation services for immigrants and to encourage

　　them to learn English, the UK communities and local government secretary, Ruth

　　Kelly, has announced. A report unveiled last Thursday by Kelly warns that foreigners

　　who settle in Britain are relying too heavily on interpreters, hindering their

　　integration into mainstream society. Experts estimate that UK local and central

　　government spend about ￡500 million a year translating written material and providing

　　interpreters. The biggest spenders include Whitehall departments, town halls,

　　courts and hospitals. Some councils are providing translations in as many as 15

　　languages, allowing migrants to avoid speaking English. A further 3,000 quangos

　　and government-funded bodies, such as housing associations, purchase translation

　　and interpretation services. “It’s quite possible for someone to come here from

　　Pakistan or elsewhere in the world and find that materials are routinely translated

　　into their mother tongue, and therefore not to have the incentive to learn the

　　language,’’ Kelly said. The Commission on Integration and Cohesion, which issued

　　the report last week, will provide guidance to local governments to move them

　　away from “routine” translation of materials. “This is a welcome outbreak of common

　　sense. The English language is a vital first step towards cohesion. We would go

　　further. We believe immigrants should pass an English test before they get their

　　visa,” said Andrew Green, chairman of Migration Watch UK, a group established

　　in 2001 to monitor migration flows to and from the UK. Kelly said there would

　　be questions about “whether or not we’re providing a crutch and supporting people

　　in their difference, or whether translation is being used in the appropriate circumstances.”