Center for the Defence of the Individual - In response to a letter from the Hebrew University Human Rights Clinic: the Enforcement and Collection Agency will take measures to make the debt collection bureau in Jerusalem accessible to Arabic speakers
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חזרה לעמוד הקודם
12.07.2015

In response to a letter from the Hebrew University Human Rights Clinic: the Enforcement and Collection Agency will take measures to make the debt collection bureau in Jerusalem accessible to Arabic speakers

Though Arabic is an official language in Israel, only a fraction of the state’s institutions and their publications are accessible to Arabic speakers who are not proficient in Hebrew. This is especially evident in East Jerusalem, where many of the Arab inhabitants – who make up around 37 percent of the city’s entire population – are not proficient in Hebrew. Over the years, HaMoked has battled this blatant disregard of the residents of East Jerusalem with respect to the written and spoken languages used in the city’s official institutions.

On May 11, 2015, the Hebrew University Human Rights Clinic, together with HaMoked and Ataa’ Center, wrote to the Israeli Enforcement and Collection Agency regarding the Jerusalem debt collection bureau’s inaccessibility to Arabic speakers, to demand the translation into Arabic of all documents, forms and letters sent by the bureau. The organizations emphasized that the Agency was obligated to employ at its bureaus Arabic speaking personnel and also offer the option of a telephone answering service in Arabic. As this was not the first time the Clinic contacted the Agency, and as previous appeals had met with slow responses, the organizations now demanded that the Agency commit to swift schedule for completing all required changes.

On June 3, 2015, the Agency announced that warning letters to debtors had already been translated into Arabic and would soon be brought into use. All remaining forms and documents would also be translated in time, but it might take a while. The Agency further wrote that it had decided to employ an Arabic speaker at the Jerusalem bureau, and that steps were being taken to staff the new position. As to the telephone answering service, the Agency stated that it provided an automated telephone service in Arabic, with an option to leave a call back number if the person wished to speak with an Arabic speaking representative.

On July 7, 2015, the organizations wrote again to the Agency to welcome the decision to employ an Arabic speaker on staff and the translation of some of the documents. However, in the letter, the organizations also questioned the decision to add just one Arabic speaker representative, and criticized the statement that this decision was made “beyond any legal requirement”. The organizations also criticized the Agency’s claim that “anyone who is not proficient in Hebrew comes with a companion to help him“, and demanded that the Agency provide a clear schedule for completing the translation of all documents.

Finally, the organizations emphasized that it was more than a year since the Clinic had sent its first letter on the issue, but despite the Agency’s claim, the option of leaving one’s details to get an Arabic speaking representative to call back didn’t appear in the telephone answering service.