THE DANGERS OF TRANSLATION (2)

My prediction in March was that Denmark would eventually offer its Afghani interpreters asylum, as it did for those in Iraq, but that  the offer would be grudging and late. That is exactly what has happened.

It was announced today that asylum would indeed be offered. But the announcement only came about after the British had announced that they would be offering asylum to their Afghani interpreters. As a critic pointed out, Denmark had the opportunity to take a moral stance and offer asylum, irrespective of what other countries did. It blew it.

The right result was achieved in the end. But it left Denmark looking mean-spirited, unnecessarily so.

Walter Blotscher