MP campaigns for Europe-wide recognition of Sign Languages

Malcolm Bruce MP is visiting Finland and Sweden next week as part of his campaign to promote wider recognition and use of sign language throughout Europe.

Mr Bruce is preparing a report to the Council of Europe urging the addition of British and other European sign languages to the Charter of Regional and Minority Languages.

In addition, Mr Bruce will be urging the adoption of best practice in the use of sign languages and the rights of sign language users under disability rights.

Mr Bruce said: “I have a 25 year old daughter who is deaf so I am very familiar with the obstacles they face in their efforts to lead a normal life. For many people who are born deaf, sign language is essential to their culture and their main means of communication.

“However, this is inadequately recognised and the Charter of National Minority Languages failed to include sign languages. I will be campaigning to change this but in the meantime hope that best current practice in the use of sign language which I am told is found in Scandinavia will be more widely adopted.

“My visit is to see how the use of sign language is promoted in practice in Sweden and Finland.

“The Deaf Community is a distinct and often vibrant sector within our society but their rights and interests are often overlooked. I am pressing both the UK Government and the European Community to give the same recognition to sign languages as they do to minority languages such as Gaelic or Catalan. This way we can provide the resources deaf people need to lead a normal life and promote awareness of sign languages among the general public.”

Notes:

Mr Bruce has been appointed rapporteur by the Council of Europe's Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee to investigate European sign language best practice. He will be travelling to Stockholm, Sweden and Helsinki, Finland during the 3 day trip.

He will be presenting his report to the committee in the next few weeks and the report should be debated at the plenary part session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe at Strasbourg in January.

His campaign has the support of the UK Council on Deafness, the Deaf Association, the European Union for the Deaf and many other organisations for deaf people. Mr Bruce is also an Honorary Vice President for the National Deaf Children's Society.