Narrative:

On pushback; we were cleared to start engine one; and shortly thereafter to set our parking brake. I responded; with 'parking brake set; clear to disconnect interphone.' I monitored the ground personnel; saw them disconnect the towbar; reconnect it to the back of the tug and start to drive away. I thought it was strange that they walked away; and confirmed with the first officer that they had all indeed left. We watched the tug and crew almost back at the terminal at this point. I remarked; that it wasn't proper for them to leave without giving us the 'all clear' and salute. We sat with the parking brake for another 30 seconds or so while we did our after start flows and then called for taxi. During this entire time I am on hot mic; with anyone who might be connected to the interphone.I called for flaps and for the first officer to call for taxi. We were cleared to taxi; and started to roll forward; maybe less than a foot before I hear the ramper yelling into the interphone 'captain; captain; I am still here!' I was absolutely shocked; and stopped the plane. I initially had no idea where the ramper was; and initially thought that he was communicating through wireless headphones. The ramper was still physically connected to the interphone. Thankfully the ramper was fine.the rampers failed on so many levels on what should have been a routine push; it makes my head spin. Firstly; whenever the ramper is connected to the interphone; or anyone is by the plane; there is supposed to be a ramper standing within my line of sight with crossed wands. The other two rampers working the towbar; left their colleague out there; by the plane with no guideman standing with wands crossed to indicate the area isn't clear. Secondly; the ramper never disconnected the interphone when instructed. Thirdly; the ramper seemingly didn't understand english; and as a final check should have said something when the first officer and I were discussing why the rampers all left. I have flown in and out [of] ZZZZ many times before; and the language barrier there is untenable. Thankfully; many times I have either a flight attendant or first officer who speaks spanish who can help; but in this case the rampers inability to understand english and my instructions seriously eroded safety and could've resulted in an incident. The ground personnel need to be able to understand english. The rampers need to follow procedure. They need to disconnect from the interphone when they're instructed; and they need to stay in front of the plane with their wands crossed until the area is clear.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: EMB-175 Captain reported that language problems and improper ramp procedures resulted in a Ramp Agent almost being hit by the aircraft at a foreign airport.

Narrative: On pushback; we were cleared to start Engine One; and shortly thereafter to set our parking brake. I responded; with 'parking brake set; clear to disconnect interphone.' I monitored the ground personnel; saw them disconnect the towbar; reconnect it to the back of the tug and start to drive away. I thought it was strange that they walked away; and confirmed with the FO that they had all indeed left. We watched the tug and crew almost back at the terminal at this point. I remarked; that it wasn't proper for them to leave without giving us the 'all clear' and salute. We sat with the parking brake for another 30 seconds or so while we did our after start flows and then called for taxi. During this entire time I am on hot mic; with anyone who might be connected to the interphone.I called for flaps and for the FO to call for taxi. We were cleared to taxi; and started to roll forward; maybe less than a foot before I hear the ramper yelling into the interphone 'Captain; Captain; I am still here!' I was absolutely shocked; and stopped the plane. I initially had no idea where the ramper was; and initially thought that he was communicating through wireless headphones. The ramper was still physically connected to the interphone. Thankfully the ramper was fine.The rampers failed on so many levels on what should have been a routine push; it makes my head spin. Firstly; whenever the ramper is connected to the interphone; or anyone is by the plane; there is supposed to be a ramper standing within my line of sight with crossed wands. The other two rampers working the towbar; left their colleague out there; by the plane with no guideman standing with wands crossed to indicate the area isn't clear. Secondly; the ramper never disconnected the interphone when instructed. Thirdly; the ramper seemingly didn't understand English; and as a final check should have said something when the FO and I were discussing why the rampers all left. I have flown in and out [of] ZZZZ many times before; and the language barrier there is untenable. Thankfully; many times I have either a flight attendant or FO who speaks Spanish who can help; but in this case the rampers inability to understand English and my instructions seriously eroded safety and could've resulted in an incident. The ground personnel need to be able to understand English. The rampers need to follow procedure. They need to disconnect from the interphone when they're instructed; and they need to stay in front of the plane with their wands crossed until the area is clear.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.