Interpreters’ Experiences of Asylum Interviews in Sweden. Working Conditions and Interpreting Literacy

This article seeks to investigate interpreters’ experiences of interpreting in asylum interviews. The empirical basis of the paper is ethnographic interviews with nine public service interpreters in Sweden, collected as part of a larger study during the period 2019–2022. The analysis is guided by theories of interpreting and mediation in professional encounters and literacy. Two main themes are presented; the first concerns interpreters’ working conditions and a widespread mistrust in their skills, both of which undermine access to high‑quality interpreting services and interpreters’ professional discretion in asylum interviews, while the second discusses the fine line between interpreting and mediating, which depends on expectations, skills and relationships with other key actors in the interview. The present analysis shows that interpreting involves navigating a highly complex and sensitive situation and interacting with other key actors to ensure that trust is established. Based on this, the article concludes that asylum interviews are complex multilingual settings in which all key actors engage in interpreting the asylum‑seeker’s narrative in a hermeneutic sense. This process calls for greater language awareness and interpreting literacy amongst interpreting users at the Migration Agency.