Improving a client’s story

NGO worker assesses whether a client is ready to go to the IND. They print out the case file and also send it to the lawyer, who can take over the case during the asylum procedure.

6.3.1.1 Trust bond

The NGO workers see that especially establishing a trust bond with a client can help the client feel more comfortable to talk about their sexuality and experiences. As I described in the previous chapter, some people are afraid to talk about their sexuality, as they have often kept it hidden for a long time. The participants believed that the first and most important step is therefore to ensure that the client knows it is safe to talk to them. This was demonstrated by Paulien (social-legal supervisor, MigrantNetwork), who stated:

“And in the end, well that’s the idea of course, you start, you have more conversations with a client, usually it will take a while. And that’s also very important, because during that time you build trust, you get to know each other, and exactly that can also… can make it that during that time new things emerge that are useful for the [case].”

The NGO workers stated that if a client knows them, they often feel comfortable to disclose more private details than they did in their IND interview, which can be important for a new claim. They also saw that talking with a client about their experiences in a safe setting can help a client feel more confident to tell their story. This was illustrated by Christine (social-legal worker,

MigrantNetwork), who stated:

“It’s for them also a revelation to see what they actually dare to and can tell that they haven’t done before.

That only here they actually feel safe enough to talk about [their sexuality] like that”

The participants believed the safe space they provided strongly contrasted with the distrusting setting of the IND hearing that I described in the previous chapter.

6.3.1.2 Making a client reflect

As I described in the previous chapter, the NGO workers believed the IND expects reflections on emotions and thought processes to see someone’s testimony as credible. In the preparation process, the NGO workers ask clients to talk about their emotions and reflections. This was especially demonstrated by Laura, a social-legal supervisor who reads reports made by the NGO contact person about their conversations with a client. Laura then provides feedback on what can still be strengthened:

“When I get those [reports], […] my comments are actually always ‘and how did she feel then?’ It’s terrible, it’s really only just that question. Like ‘I can imagine that there would be a lot of emotions involved here, would she be able to talk a bit more about that?’”

The NGO workers believed that clients are not always aware of their thought processes and emotions. They believed that by asking clients reflexive questions during the preparation, they can make them more aware of these thoughts and emotions. An example of how the participants try to elicit reflections is presented by Sophie (social-legal worker, SUM), who stated that she sometimes asks people to do reflexive exercises at home or with their partners to become aware of their emotions and to practice talking about them. The NGO workers believed that practicing talking about emotions can help clients feel comfortable to talk about them during the IND interview and more inclined to offer these reflections voluntarily. Throughout the preparation process, the NGO workers try to elicit the elements they believe would strengthen the story in the eyes of the IND and clarify the relevant elements in someone’s story. Besides this, they also try to have someone talk about these elements in the format the IND expects, which I will outline in the next section.

6.3.2 Structuring the story

“I think the influence we have on someone’s story is that you help someone to build such a narrative, so that [it’s] their story with their memories and experiences and feelings but you help someone structure that, build it, also make it into a story for themselves.” (Lucia, social-legal worker, SUM)

I demonstrated in the previous chapter that the NGO workers have a clear idea about the format they believe the IND looks for when assessing whether a narrative is credible. As the quote above demonstrates, NGO workers believed that through the preparation process, they can help a client structure their story into the format the IND expects of a credible narrative. From my interview and participant observation data, it emerged that they instruct clients on the IND’s demands and shape a client’s story with comments and guiding questions.

6.3.2.1 Providing instructions on the IND’s demands

The NGO workers often described that telling a story in the format that the IND wants is a

‘technique’ that clients can learn. They stated that they instruct their clients to discuss their emotions, use examples, explain the context of their experiences, and discuss everything

chronologically and in a detailed manner. They believed that clients often do not understand that the IND expects such a specific narrative format. They saw making clients understand the narrative

demands as a large part of their role. How they do this is illustrated by Laura (social-legal supervisor, SUM), who stated:

“You know, often you ask a question and then people give a relatively short answer and then you say ‘oh but how did you feel then?’ or ‘what happened for you internally then?’ and then slowly a bit more starts to emerge, and then you have to explain again ‘okay next time I only ask you the first question it’s the idea that you tell everything at once.’ Because the IND doesn’t ask more questions, they’re not going to ask you ‘and how did you feel? And how was it for you?’ You know? So it’s almost like learning a kind of new technique to tell their story.”

This quote demonstrates how the NGO workers use guiding questions to have a client provide the reflections that are necessary for the IND hearing. Then, they instruct the client that it is necessary to offer these reflections voluntarily and without being asked for them by the IND. They instruct the clients to integrate these essential elements out of their own initiative because they believe “the IND really doesn’t ask about everything, but they do want to know everything” (Sophie, social-legal worker, SUM). From the start of the preparation, the NGO workers begin to fit a client’s narrative into the format they believe the IND wants: a common practice is to ask clients to first write down their life experiences on a ‘timeline,’ immediately starting to order the experiences chronologically.

They also explicitly instruct clients to tell their experiences chronologically, because they know the IND expects this format. They thus use their knowledge of the IND’s narrative expectations to help clients structure their experiences in this format.

6.3.2.2 Assessing the story

The participants try to fit a client’s story into the IND’s format not only by instructing them but also by evaluating how the client currently tells their story. The NGO workers use their

knowledge of the IND’s expectations to assess whether they believe the story adheres to the IND’s demands. This is illustrated by Sophie (social-legal worker, SUM), who described:

“[Initially] I also don’t know that person and their story. So I’ll listen to it and I’ll think okay what do I think they’re going to get questions about. Or where do I think ‘huh but now you’re saying something that sounds very weird.’ […] and after I prepared with someone, I always read.. I write [the story] down or read it through. And then I’ll see okay where are there still gaps, what do we have to keep working on? What are things that the IND finds important?”

As this quote demonstrates, the NGO workers assess whether someone’s story contains any inconsistencies, gaps, or incoherencies, and use this assessment to address these with the client before they go to the IND. They also make sure to tell the client what they think can be improved and how to improve it to fit within the IND’s expectations. This approach is based on the idea that

“if I don’t understand it, the IND will definitely not understand it” (Lucia, social-legal worker, SUM).

The NGO workers know what the IND expects of a credible narrative and evaluate the client’s narrative in that light.

The NGO workers navigate a tension between wanting to maintain a trust bond with their clients, in which the client feels comfortable to discuss their experiences, and wanting to strengthen a client’s story through questions, feedback, and instructions. Nicole (social-legal worker, MSN) demonstrated how she deals with this tension:

“So sometimes I’ll also tell the client, ‘I’m now going to pretend like I’m the IND,’ and that’s how I enter the conversation. So that you know that… this is how the IND also does it. And then I’m still nice sometimes. But yeah… So also asking those critical questions. But then I do often give a kind of disclaimer, because I do want to keep that trust bond with them, […] that I’m pretending like I’m the IND […] [that] this is how it can be later on at the IND. […] Then I’m extra critical. But I do want to keep that relationship, so I’ll say […] a disclaimer like… ‘I’m asking this question but the IND can also ask it.

That’s why I’m asking this critical question, maybe not from distrust but so you know that this […] will be asked [at the IND].’ Yeah. Or ‘here is a weak point in your story.’ Or ‘this isn’t… here you’re saying this and there you’re saying that. How… can you explain that?’ So [clients] have to explain that [seemingly inconsistent part] beforehand at the IND, […] you shouldn’t let IND ask the question. So you have to integrate that into your story: why [something] seems contradictory, but that [in reality] it isn’t contradictory, for example.”

This quote demonstrates how by distancing themselves from the IND’s interviewing practices (“this is how the IND also does it”), they aim to convey to the client that their critical questions are not because the NGO worker does not believe them, but because they are trying to show clients how they need to perform later at the IND interview. This tension was similarly found by Smith-Khan (2020) who researched the role of asylum lawyers in Australia and by Jacobs and Maryns (2021) in Belgium. These authors discuss that asylum lawyers balance between ‘building rapport’ with a client and ‘gatekeeping’ the credibility of their narratives using the decision-maker’s credibility framework. I will explore these findings more in-depth in my discussion section.

6.3.2.3 The tension in making an ‘authentic’ asylum story

The NGO workers all emphasized that they believed they were changing only the format of a client’s story, while the content should remain ‘authentically’ the client’s. They described that to tell an authentic story, the client would have to provide the information themselves and the NGO workers only help to present this information in a way that the IND expects. However, I found that there can be a tension between having clients tell their own story and making the strongest possible claim. This tension is demonstrated in this quote by Isabel (senior social-legal worker, SUM):

“If you prepare someone well then you still let it be someone’s own story. And then you could only help in telling it coherently, chronologically, and reflexively. And it remains their own story. […] If the asylum seeker, if they wouldn’t come up with [something] themselves, then I wouldn’t put that in their mouth. I would ask further questions about it. So they don’t forget [anything]. […] and you make it… you try to make it as concrete as possible. And of course you try, if you think ‘oh it would make [the claim] stronger if they would tell this’ then you try to ask about it and have it come from the person themselves.”

As demonstrated in this quote, the NGO workers stated they would never tell the client what to say.

Nonetheless, they do often have an idea about what would make a client’s testimony stronger and try to ask a client to expand on these relevant experiences. Most NGO workers believed they had a large impact on someone’s final story, mostly because they believed they influenced how a client conveyed their experiences. Only a few discussed how they can also influence what gets told,

“through the questions you ask, and which things you leave and which things you give a lot of attention” (Sophie, social-legal worker, SUM). The finding that NGO workers influence how and what asylum seekers tell in a (repeated) asylum claim is in line with Smith-Khan (2017) and Jacobs and Maryns (2021). These authors found that asylum narratives are generally not ‘authentic’, life-as-lived stories of asylum seekers, but rather are co-constructed by various actors involved in the procedure, including applicants’ lawyers. I will continue to reflect on narrative co-construction in the discussion section.

6.3.3 Preparing for the interview

The NGO workers believed that the preparation process can serve two purposes: to

structure a client’s story, and to improve their telling of the story at the IND. So far I have discussed how NGO workers influence the structure of the story to fit into the IND’s demands. However, the

actual delivery of the story needs to be done by the client during the asylum interview. In that key moment, they need to tell their story in the way that the IND wants.

As I described earlier, the NGO workers explain the IND’s expectations to a client during the preparation process. They use these instructions as a basis to help a client to tailor their story to the IND demands. However, they believed these instructions can also help a client understand how they are expected to answer in the actual IND interview. This was demonstrated to me by Lucia (social-legal worker, SUM), who instructed me on how to conduct the preparation during my time in the field. She stated that she does not want to anticipate all possible questions the IND might ask in the interview. Instead, she wants to teach her clients to always include examples, reflections, and details so that they can answer any question the IND might ask. The NGO workers told me that they hoped that once their client is doing their IND interview, they will think back to the instructions they received in the preparation and remember to answer in the format the NGO workers taught them.

The participants thus saw the preparation process as ‘practicing’ for a performance. This was demonstrated by Nicole (social-legal worker, MSN):

“I think […] that [my influence on someone’s story] is that someone has practiced. If you have to give a speech somewhere you also practice it. […] Then you’re going to figure out your story (‘alles op een rijtje zetten’) and then at the presentation you use a PowerPoint, but that’s also a kind of practicing: what do I want to tell? So helping someone order [it], finding the common thread in the story [is how I can influence it].” (Nicole, social-legal worker, MSN)

This quote demonstrates that the NGO workers believed that talking through a client’s experiences helps them construct a clear story, and by practicing that story in the NGO setting they can make people feel more comfortable to present it at the IND. Most NGO workers stated that if a client feels more comfortable sharing private information with them, and learns that it is important to talk about it, they will be more likely to discuss these private experiences also at the next IND interview. Here, they also see an important role for the LGBTI support organizations I described earlier, which they believed can help clients feel more comfortable with their sexuality and experiences. These findings are in line with Jacobs and Maryns (2021), who describe that asylum lawyers see themselves as “offering backstage assistance to the asylum seeker’s upcoming front stage performance” (p.21). The NGO workers I spoke to want to prepare their clients as well as possible for their upcoming asylum interview, where they have to ‘perform’ their story in a way that fits the IND’s demands.