Migrations and borders in the Federal District: linguistic integration as a guarantee of human rights

Abstract

This article aims to describe the academic project, in development, of linguistic integration of immigrants, arriving in Brasilia from different locations. In fact, one of the main obstacles encountered by this population at the time of their arrival and first contacts with the assistance entities is linguistic. Therefore, it seeks to implement a linguistically inclusive communication system able to integrate immigrants and refugees to public service systems in the areas of health, work, Social Assistance Reference Centers, Specialized Reference Centers of Social Assistance, National Committee for Refugees, Federal Police, and the Institute for Migration and human rights, thus contributing to the effective exercise of human rights of this population. The project aims at first, to form and feed a bank of volunteers and fellow interpreters, to meet the emergency demands. Moreover, the objective is to create a software to assist communication with various linguistic resources (multilingual terminology banks, multilingual platform of information on rights and duties of this population, locator of interpreters, etc.). It is therefore suggested that a linguistically inclusive communication system, such as what we aim to implement, will be able to facilitate the management and possible integration of immigrants and refugees to public service systems. Developed in an academic institution, while an outreach program, this initiative will consolidate previous research, a social action context that encompasses all the skills developed in the courses offered by the Department of Foreign Languages and Translation of Universidade de Brasilia. Moreover, it aims to strengthen student training and practice of language skills they develop throughout their training. They will also be oriented on issues related to the maintenance of human rights and today’s population transits.