30.3614, Confs: Arabic, Standard; Forensic Linguistics/United Kingdom

Wed Sep 25 08:17:26 UTC 2019

LINGUIST List: Vol-30-3614. Wed Sep 25 2019. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 30.3614, Confs: Arabic, Standard; Forensic Linguistics/United Kingdom

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Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2019 04:09:18
From: Nancy Hawker [nancy.hawker at aku.edu]
Subject: Arabic LADO in the UK Asylum System: Does It Work?

Arabic LADO in the UK Asylum System: Does It Work? 

Date: 02-Oct-2019 - 02-Oct-2019 
Location: London, United Kingdom 
Contact: Nancy Hawker 
Contact Email: ismc.governance at aku.edu 
Meeting URL: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arabic-lado-in-the-uk-asylum-system-does-it-work-tickets-68441966765?aff=erelexpmlt 

Linguistic Field(s): Forensic Linguistics 

Subject Language(s): Arabic, Standard (arb)

Meeting Description: 

Language Assessment for the Determination of Origin (LADO) is a
government-commissioned test taken by asylum seekers in some countries as part
of the asylum application. The premise of LADO is that the way someone speaks
reflects their place of origin, and therefore assessing their speech verifies
an applicant’s claimed place of origin. If they come from a place where there
is war or another form of persecution, then they have a stronger case for
claiming asylum. There are problems with both the premise and the
implementation of LADO, but there are scientific linguistic ways of linking
geography, mobility and ways of speaking. Linguists are divided over the issue
of whether LADO works as a method for ‘catching out’ speakers who claim to be
from somewhere, but are from somewhere else.

In the UK, the Home Office has outsourced language analyses to private
contractors. In 2014, in a case brought forward by two asylum seekers against
the Secretary of State for Home Department, the UK Supreme Court called for a
‘review’ of legal guidance from asylum tribunals on the use of linguistic
evidence and arguments in LADO reports. This Dialogue Event of the AKU-ISMC’s
Governance Programme is an opportunity to discuss whether the appropriate
review has taken place since the ruling.

Speakers:

Prof Peter Patrick, University of Essex; author of ‘Language Analysis for
Determination of Origin (LADO) in Arabic-dominant Settings’ in The Routledge
Handbook of Arabic Sociolinguistics ed. by Enam Al-Wer and Uri Horesh
(Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 2019), and of ‘Language Analysis for
Determination of Origin: Objective Evidence for Refugee Status Determination’
in The Oxford Handbook of Language and Law ed. by Peter M. Tiersma & Lawrence
M. Solan. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012).

Dr Mohammed Ateek, Birkbeck, University of London; co-author (with Sebastian
M. Rasinger), of ‘Syrian or non-Syrian? Reflections on the Use of LADO in the
UK’ in Forensic Linguistics: Asylum-seekers, Refugees and Immigrants ed. by
I.M.Nick (Delaware and Malaga: Vernon Press, 2018).

Dr Chris Lucas, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London;
has researched dialectological methods in application to LADO, for instance
‘Determining the Origin of Asylum Claimants through Language Analysis: The
Case of Arabic’ (Lecture, SOAS, 2017).

Organiser:

This conference is organised by AKU-ISMC's Governance Programme. This
programme aims to critically assess current thinking on governance in
relation to Muslim contexts. It seeks to explore the deeply rooted religious
and cultural sensitivities prevalent in matters of governance. By generating
outputs accessible to wider audiences, the project is committed to encouraging
healthy and informed debate among scholars and the public alike.

Registration is essential at
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arabic-lado-in-the-uk-asylum-system-does-it-wor
k-tickets-68441966765?aff=erelexpmlt 

Date and Time: Wed, 2 October 2019
17:30 – 19:30 BST

Location: 
The Aga Khan University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations
Aga Khan Centre, Atrium Conference Room
10 Handyside Street
London
N1C 4DN

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