Our team contributed to a commentary culture, memory and interviewing – exploring challenges for research and practice. We discuss the role of culture in memory reporting and communication in asylum cases.

There has been limited research focusing on investigative interviewing in an asylum context. Evidence-based interview techniques are vital to obtain information for valid asylum decisions. An asylum process is a cross-cultural setting by nature. It is critical to understand how culture affects reporting.

Narratives differ by culture in how much emotion is expressed. Asylum officials may misperceive a statement as untruthful if it does not meet their assumptions about emotional expressions in asylum cases. For example, how distressed someone should seem.