Information is primarily given by the authorities responsible for conducting the procedural steps of access to procedure in your national setting. These can include:

• determining authority,
• police administrations,
• border and coast guard administrations,
• local citizens’ offices.

Information provision can also be delivered by other authorities or organisations that interact with applicants during access to procedure (Article 21(1) APD (recast) (¹⁷). These can include:

• actors running reception centres;
• civil society organisations;
• legal counsellors;
• international organisations, such as UNHCR or the International Organization for Migration;
• European Union agencies;
• legal counsellors;
• actors running detention facilities;
• penitentiary institutions.

The lists above are general. In your national settings, the organisations involved in the first contact situation and during registering/lodging may not always be the same. Moreover, it is worth highlighting the valuable contribution to information provision given by the civil society organisations and community volunteers.

It is also good to keep in mind that not all organisations necessarily have the capacity to provide information on a wide variety of topics that may be beyond their specialisation.

Practical tip on countering misinformation received from informal sources

Applicants from certain cultural backgrounds may be drawn to seek advice from members of their own community, for example because they are not used to seeking information from authorities, who, unintentionally, could spread inaccurate and/or incomplete information. As a result, applicants rely on misinformation instead of institutional information.

 

Disinformation could also come from deliberate attempts of smugglers or traffickers to mislead the applicants by feeding them fabricated and manipulated information.

 

You can counter this with frequent repetition and consistency of information from authorised sources, through different communication channels.

(17) Article 21(1) APD (recast) ‘Member States may provide that the legal and procedural information free of charge referred to in Article 19 is provided by non-governmental organisations, or by professionals from government authorities or from specialised services of the State.’

To ensure the trust of the applicant in the asylum procedure, it is of utmost importance that all authorities, services providers and civil society organisations involved spread a consistent message.

As multiple organisations can be involved in delivering information during access to procedure, coordination may be needed to ensure the delivery of coherent messages to all applicants and to guarantee that information reaches all applicants. Keep in mind that different coordination may be needed for first-contact situations and during registering/lodging.

When coordinating information provision, you will need to consider at least content and accessibility.

Coordination of content relates to how coherent messages are systematically delivered to applicants. It can consider, for example, what information materials are used, what the reference material is, who drafts these materials and how information providers can be trained. Coordination may also be needed to keep the information up to date and consistent over time.

Coordination of accessibility refers to how all applicants receive information. It can consider, for example, which organisations are responsible for delivering certain information at each phase of access to procedure and how an appropriate skillset can be ensured so that the communication style can be adapted to the audience. 

Coordination includes, for example, the following mechanisms: 

• a centralised system where information is delivered by one organisation; 
• standard operating procedures; 
• referral mechanisms; 
• formal partnerships with authorities; 
• framework agreements. 

Good practices on coordination through thematic working groups and referral pathways

In complex operational contexts, information provision can be coordinated through thematic working groups. Each working group would coordinate several organisations involved in information provision activities round the same theme. Daily coordination can be organised through liaison points assigned to each working group. 

 

In complex contexts, such as disembarkation events, referral pathways play a crucial role to properly address protections needs and provide the applicants with a timely response, particularly in terms of service and specialised support. To this end, information and service providers must contribute to keep referral pathways functional and easily accessible. 

 

The following practical arrangements can be used to deliver information to different locations, by one or multiple organisations: 

• mobile/roving teams travelling to different locations where applicants arrive or reside; 
• information booths installed in locations where a high number of applicants are located; 
• hotlines that allow the applicants to reach you in multiple locations – make sure to widely announce the numbers of the hotlines in locations frequented by applicants. 

If information is provided by multiple organisations, make sure that the applicant understands the role of the organisation that provides information to them. If the information provider is not the authority responsible for their application, the applicant should at least receive information on how they can contact the responsible authority in case they have questions about their personal application.