Process, tools and agendas in LADO

Abstract

After recapitulating my arguments about methodological flaws in the practices of the company Verified AB in language analysis for the determination of origin (LADO) in asylum procedures, I respond to criticisms of my proposals for an alternative protocol and review the relevance of qualifications, control samples, language variation and scales. I then discuss the interplay of professional competence, ideological bias and understandings of the task and demonstrate the pitfalls of the pre-set framing of the question of the applicants’ background.