Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have plans to support a United Nations Convention or similar instrument to protect interpreters and translators working in conflict zones.

We have noted the call by the International Federation of Translators and other non-governmental organisations for a UN Convention or international safety document for the protection of translators and interpreters, but as yet no concrete proposals have been made as to how this would work in practice. There already exists an extensive body of international conventions, such as the Geneva Conventions, to support employees working in the field with the military or on diplomatic missions, and it is not clear that a new convention would add materially to the protection already afforded.