The European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) has launched a major new portal providing a range of resources to asylum and reception professionals. The ‘Let’s Speak Asylum’ portal has been several years in development and offers an unprecedented library of practical tools and products to help officials and other professionals communicate with and provide information to applicants for international protection. It may also support other practitioners such as researchers, communication officers, etc. to understand – and explain – how international protection works in the EU. 

Primarily aimed at EU Member State asylum and reception professionals, civil society organisations and other entities closely working with the authorities, the unique new portal addresses a long-standing gap in efforts to harmonise international protection practices in Europe, namely within the field of information provision. It can, however, also be used by students, academics, institutional officials, or anyone wishing to learn more about international protection. 

Effective and tailored-made communication and information provision play a crucial role in enabling applicants for international protection to fully enjoy their rights and comply with their obligations. To effectively ensure understanding, information should be given in a manner that considers their personal circumstances. 

The Let’s Speak Asylum portal is specifically designed to give professionals the resources they need in order to design such effective communication and information provision activities in the field of asylum and reception. The use of standardised tools and resources also means that applicants benefiting from these activities will increasingly receive harmonised information no matter where they apply in Europe.

About the LSA portal 

The LSA portal offers methodological guidance and practical tools on the provision of information in the context of the asylum procedure, the Dublin procedure, reception and resettlement. It aims to support the optimisation of resources and foster greater coherence and consistency in information provision activities, and thus contribute to the harmonised implementation of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS).

The Portal is primarily intended for officials of national authorities and any other staff or organisations working or involved in information provision in the context of asylum and reception in the EU context. It supports those who work either at central level designing communication and information provision activities and resources, or those in the field providing information to applicants.

Main Elements of the portal:

• Methodological guidance on how to communicate with and provide information to applicants for international protection;
• Further guidance, practical tips and key information provision messages on four thematic areas: asylum procedure, Dublin procedure, reception and resettlement;
• EUAA information provision materials (posters, brochures, animations, leaflets etc. for different target groups) to be used when providing information in the context of the asylum procedure, the Dublin procedure, reception and resettlement;
• Short ‘how to use’ manuals explaining how, when and with whom to use a specific material. Some manuals also include a ‘script’ to guide the facilitators/information-providers in the preparation and implementation of sessions based on that material; 
• Easy-to-understand illustrations and icons which can be downloaded for free and used when developing information provision materials;
• A library with selected information provision products, collected from national authorities of different EU+ countries and other entities, to serve as a source of inspiration. New products that could inspire others can be proposed through a dedicated page on the portal. 

The EUAA information materials and the illustrations and icons have also been tested and/or piloted with applicants for international protection before being finalised.

You can read the tutorial brochure available on the homepage for more information on what the portal offers. 

The EUAA information provision materials and the ‘How-To-Use’ manuals will gradually be available in selected non-EU and EU languages.

The EUAA will continue to develop and upload further content and materials on the LSA portal during the second phase of the LSA project.

Background information

The Let’s Speak Asylum information provision portal brings together the thematic deliverables of the Let’s Speak Asylum umbrella project of the EUAA. 

Different Thematic Working Groups composed of Member States’ and other experts were set up for developing the methodologies and content on the portal. A separate important component of the project was the design of a training pathway on provision of information and communication with asylum seekers complemented by a specialised series of webinars (for more information on this, visit the EUAA Training Catalogue).

The EUAA information materials, illustrations and icons have also been tested and/or piloted with applicants for international protection before being finalised.

The Let’s Speak Asylum (LSA) umbrella project will continue until end of 2024 with the development of new content for specific phases of the thematic areas.