The responsibility to protect remains a challenge

The aftermath of the evacuations that followed the withdrawal of US and NATO troops in August 2021, coupled with the expiration of the ‘Danish agreement on the management of the situation for interpreters and other locally employed in Afghanistan’ by the end of 2022, provides an opportunity to access the role of local interpreters in military operations.

Building on a literature review and interviews with stakeholders, this DIIS Working Paper discusses translation needs in military peace keeping engagements, the ethical and political dilemmas involved, and the policies and practices developed by Denmark and its main allies. The paper suggests that whilst effective counterinsurgency is difficult to obtain without the collaboration of local interpreters, their local embeddedness contributes to the heightened risks they face and the special protection they may need. However, the absence of internationally coordinated procedures for protection and relocation result in arbitrary case handling across countries.