The Federal Justice Ministry has promised to pay interpreters who have gone without a payslip since August.
Interpreters from East Flanders staged a protest outside Ghent courthouse on Friday to highlight their lack of payment. The movement has pushed the Justice Ministry to pledge emergency measures to facilitate the missing payments.
Around 20 affected interpreters attended the demonstration. Many are struggling to make ends meet and have been forced to borrow money from friends and family. "I have only received €36 since August. We have hardly seen any money for the past four months," one of them told VRT.
"While awaiting structural reforms, the Justice Ministry is taking emergency measures to minimise the impact on external partners," the administration stated in response. "We are deploying available resources where the need is greatest, prioritising invoices from service providers who depend on our payments and deferring our internal requirements. We are also informing the sector transparently."
'Historical underfunding'
The Ministry attributed the lack of payments to the "historical underfunding of the department." It expressed understanding of the difficult situation and reaffirmed the importance of translators and interpreters employed by the State.
Regarding the situation at the Ghent payment office, the administration added that "82.8% of expense reports are paid within 30 days. On average, the payment time is 16 days."
