How to prepare an asylum interview: an analysis of social workers practices

Résumé En

In asylum procedure, the applicant’s testimony is of utmost importance in statusdetermination, since there is generally only scarce evidence to support the claims (UNHCR,2013). While decisive in the procedure, the asylum interview is a challenging task for mostapplicants. Hence, they might get prepared to testify beforehand with social workers fromasylum rights organizations, exploring and discussing details of their past to identify what isrelevant to the case.Without a thorough preparation, it is often unrealistic to expect an applicant to providea testimony suited to the requirements of asylum determination (e.g. McFadyen, 2018). Toachieve fairness in asylum procedure, and because granting protection to those in need is a vitalmatter, a better understanding of the preparation process is needed to provide effective supportto asylum seekers. As part of a collaboration with an asylum organization, aiming at theidentification of interviewing best practices, we surveyed social workers (n=66, data incollection) to determine from their perspective: (1) the characteristics of a successfulpreparation interview, (2) main issues encountered in the preparation, (3) factors associatedwith its success or failure.Preliminary results suggests that a successful interview rely upon an atmosphere of trustto achieve preparedness: a clear comprehension of the procedure, ability to communicate finegraineddetails in a meaningful and coherent way, confidence and willingness to disclosesensitive information. Issues include silence and lack of commitment, time and space-relatedinformation, and narrative properties such as coherence and personalization. Implications forevidence-based interviewing practices are discussed.