Lost in translation
Common humanitarian issues and vocabulary can be easily mistranslated or misunderstood. Here are a few examples:
| Gender-based violence |
| There is no word for “gender" in Rohingya. Interpreters initially translated it as “women”, which meant some refugees instead heard “violent women” rather than “gender-based violence”. |
| Women’s independence |
| Rohingya often understand a term used to describe women’s independence, azad mela-fuain, as “a woman without morals”. |
| Safety |
| Different words are used to describe “safety”. Recently arrived refugees use the word hefazot. Chittagonian uses the word nirafot, derived from Bangla, and many interpreters initially did not understand the Rohingya word. |
| Gender-based violence | There is no word for “gender" in Rohingya. Interpreters initially translated it as “women”, which meant some refugees instead heard “violent women” rather than “gender-based violence”. |
| Women’s independence | Rohingya often understand a term used to describe women’s independence, azad mela-fuain, as “a woman without morals”. |
| Safety | Different words are used to describe “safety”. Recently arrived refugees use the word hefazot. Chittagonian uses the word nirafot, derived from Bangla, and many interpreters initially did not understand the Rohingya word. |
