Sugow Said and Hassani Munongerwa don’t speak English, and it’s not hard to understand why.

The two men, in their 40s and 50s, are Somali Bantus and grew up speaking their African tongue.

Then, in 1991, civil war broke out in Somalia and the Bantus, a minority, came under attack. Tens of thousands of them were forced to flee into Kenya, where they ended up in refugee camps.

There, many of the refugees remained for up to 14 years.

This decade, though, the United States started admitting some of the refugees, and about 80 Bantus making up 14 families settled in Fort Wayne.

Since then, they have lived relatively quietly. Neither of the two men has been able to learn English, but they’ve gotten along, getting driver’s licenses and finding work, Said as a maintenance worker at Ivy Tech and Munongerwa at a cleaning company.

That language barrier, though, began to cause complications recently – when they went to renew their driver’s licenses.

Said’s license, it was discovered, had expired in February, and Munongerwa’s is set to expire Saturday.

When Said went to renew his license, he was told that because his license had expired more than six months ago, he had to take a written test to get a new one. Munongerwa was also told he’d have to take a written test to renew his license because of the number of points on his license.

Therein lies the problem. They don’t speak or read English.

Some members of the Somali Bantu community in Fort Wayne offered to serve as translators for them, but they were told “no.” Only a certified interpreter can be used – and there are no certified Somali Bantu interpreters available.

What are they supposed to do? asked Said Mohammed, a fellow Somali Bantu who does speak English. They have families they must support. They need transportation. They’ve driven for several years. They understand the laws and can recognize stop signs and speed-limit signs and so forth. They just can’t take a test in English.

We spoke to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles about the issue, and they at least lent a sympathetic ear.

Anyone can serve as a translator at a license branch for just about anything – registering a car, getting license plates and so on – except taking a written test, said Dennis Rosebrough, a spokesman for the BMV.

When it comes to written tests, Rosebrough said, certified and licensed interpreters are required because, “We have reason to believe there have been cases where the interpreter passed the test” and not the person who was supposed to be taking it.

“We have to have some confidence in the integrity of the process,” Rosebrough said.

That’s understandable. People have to credibly illustrate that they understand traffic laws and recognize signs and so on.

The latest word we received, though, is that there wouldn’t be a solution to the license problems of Said and Munongerwa, not in the short term, or maybe ever. The responsibility for finding interpreters and getting them certified falls in the lap of the Bantus, we were told. The BMV has no legal obligation to provide translators.

Curiously, though, the BMV is the agency that certifies them.

The only problem with that is that English-speaking Bantus, people who have been serving as interpreters for years for other members of the community, are only finding that out now.

Everyone must realize, though, that the Bantus aren’t alone. Thousands of refugees from countries all over the world have been brought into the community over the past few years. When you bring in refugees, you often end up with people who don’t speak English.

So put the word out. When refugees are brought in, task one has to be cultivating certified interpreters – or walk.