Community Campaigns for a Difficult to Reach and Culturally Diverse

Audience

Opening slide

Case study: the Department of Immigration and Citizenship’s National

Communications Branch – ‘People smuggling. Don’t risk it’

communications activity

Sandi Logan

Thank you all for your time today.

My name is Sandi Logan. I head the Department of Immigration and

Citizenship’s National Communications Branch and as you’ve no doubt

seen on television, heard on radio and read in the papers, we’ve got quite

a bit on our hands.

One of the department’s biggest issues is that of asylum seekers - ‘boat

people’ or irregular maritime arrivals, as they’re also known - and the

means they use to come to this country.

I should probably spend a few minutes setting the scene and giving you

some background and context to what has become an issue of great

debate in recent years.

But before I do, let’s first get a sense for Australia’s record as an immigrant

nation.

The most ambitious part of Australia's migration program followed the end

of World War II.

Slide 2

In more than six decades of planned post-war migration, we’ve welcomed

nearly 6.8 million migrants.

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An important aspect of post war migration was the establishment of a

humanitarian program, following an agreement signed with the

International Refugee Organisation, to resettle 12 000 people a year from

Europe.

Since then, around 750 000 refugees and humanitarian entrants have

arrived in Australia, which is incredibly generous for a nation of our size.

As you will no doubt have seen in the media, Australia has experienced a

significant increase in irregular maritime arrivals (IMAs).

These are people who, for a range of reasons, have left their homes and

travelled to another country – what are called transit countries - most

notably Indonesia and Malaysia - where they often link with people

smugglers for the final leg of the journey, in this case, by boat to Australia.

Slide 3

People smugglers are individuals or syndicates who demand a fee to

arrange boats and crew to bring asylum seekers to Australia.

These are not necessarily noble people who want to help others flee from

persecution.

These are people who seek to make money from the misery of others, and

history has shown us that they don’t particularly care whether their clients

live or die.

We’re told that people smugglers give assurances to potential asylum

seekers – for example, that the journey to Australia is short and simple.

It is not. It is a long, dangerous journey on the open ocean, usually

undertaken in dilapidated fishing boats – not craft designed to take large

numbers of people on an open ocean journey. On the most arrival, more

than 50 people were jammed into a tiny boat with barely inches of

clearance from the water. So packed in, they could not move for the 40

hours they were at sea, and that included their ablutions.

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Let’s be very clear about this.

We welcome some 13 750 refugees and humanitarian entrants every year.

That number is about to go up to 14 750 following the May 7

announcement by the Prime Minister and our Minister.

Insofar as people seeking asylum are concerned, either by air or by sea,

we understand that they leave their homelands for a range of reasons; it’s

clear from research that while persecution is a major factor for people

seeking asylum, some people also come seeking economic opportunities.

Unfortunately for them, these are not grounds for the granting of refugee

status under the UN Refugee Convention

Asylum seekers must prove a real threat of persecution in their homeland.

We seek an end to an evil practice where profiteers prey upon people, give

them false hope, take their money and put their lives and the lives of their

families, at grave risk.

Many people have died making this journey and others have needed to be

rescued to avoid certain death. The journey is highly dangerous and

unnecessary, and it comes with no certainty.

The people smugglers know for certain that even if the asylum seekers

survive the dangerous journey by boat, there is no guarantee whatsoever

that they will achieve the migration outcomes they desire.

While the past two years have established a high mark in asylum seeker

arrivals by boat in Australia it is by no means the only spike in arrivals in

the last decade or so.

Slide 4

The period 1999-2001 saw similar numbers of people coming to Australia

irregularly by boat:

In 1999, we had 86 boats arrive in Australia carrying 3721 people.

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In 2000, 51 boats arrived carrying 2939 people.

In 2001, 43 boats arrived carrying 5516 people.

At the time, the department had detention facilities at Villawood in Sydney,

Maribyrnong in Melbourne, the Baxter and Woomera facilities in South

Australia, and the Port Hedland and Curtin facilities in Western Australia.

Slide 5

The high number of boat arrivals in this period, and the incident with the

Tampa vessel, led the government to introduce legislation to excise parts

of Australia’s territory from the migration zone, in an attempt to discourage

asylum seekers.

This was the Migration Amendment (Excision from Migration Zone) Bill

2001, also known as the Pacific strategy.

On 8 February 2008, the Pacific strategy was formally ended by the Rudd

Government. It was decided then that people who were intercepted in

boats would be processed at Christmas Island, as they are today.

Slide 6

We are one of the top three nations per capita who resettle refugees on a

annual basis as part of our overall migration program.

Fast forward to late 2009/early 2010: the government had been aware of

tragic incidences in the past in which people had drowned while attempting

to get to Australia by boat. Boats and people were arriving at an

increasing rate and the government was concerned about further

tragedies.

In response, Australia established a whole-of-government approach to

discourage asylum seekers coming to Australia by boat at the hands of

people smugglers.

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This approach targeted potential asylum seekers abroad, and diaspora

communities in Australia who might be likely to fund, encourage or

materially support family and friends to engage with a people smuggler.

Slide 7

This strategic communications approach was overseen by the lead

agency, the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service and

includes the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, the Australian

Federal Police, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the

Attorney General’s Department.

As the lead agency, Australian Customs and Border Protection is

responsible for all offshore communications in the countries from which

most asylum seekers departed from and also the transit countries such as

Malaysia and Indonesia.

The government committed $4 million for a counter people smuggling

information campaign to address people smuggling at the grassroots level

in source countries, such as Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, as well as in

transit and organising countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia.

The softer education approach used in this campaign relied on positive

messages designed to reinforce socially acceptable behaviour, and

included local radio spots which reinforced key messages.

The same messages, such as ‘people smuggling is wrong’, were printed

on mugs and t-shirts and repeated at prayer sessions and village festivals.

Additionally, community liaison officers played a key role interacting with

vulnerable communities whose members might be considering engaging

with a people smuggler, seeking to discourage them from jumping aboard

a boat.

Slide 8

As part of this whole of government initiative, my department’s National

Communications Branch also undertook a strategic communications

approach targeting Sri Lankan, Iraqi, Iranian and Afghan diaspora

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communities around Australia, targeting them with information and

messages about the risks associated with the long, dangerous and

unpredictable boat journey to Australia.

The key to the department’s communication messages was to convince

the diaspora communities in Australia of the dangers of the journey and of

using people smugglers, so that they in turn communicated this to their

family and friends overseas considering travelling unlawfully to Australia.

The department commissioned specialist research to establish a

benchmark in terms of existing knowledge of the laws and the level of

awareness around the challenge we faced with the rising numbers of

irregular maritime arrivals, and then, to test materials for the proposed anti

people smuggling communication activity. Focus groups were conducted in

early June 2010.

In each group, there were often participants who had themselves used

people smugglers in reaching Australia and were later found to be

refugees. Interestingly almost to a man and a woman, they told our

researchers they were vehemently opposed to people smugglers, often

blaming them for the loss of life of a relative or close friend who had died at

sea in any one of the tragedies which has occurred off Australia’s

northwest coastline.

The primary target audience for our messaging was understood to be

migrants and refugees to Australia, with family and friends abroad, but

some secondary audiences were also targeted, including:

All people considering to use or associate with people smugglers

Broader migrant communities in Australia

International communities (as in people abroad) who may acquire

the aid of a people smuggler including people from Iraq, Iran,

Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.

The discussions were facilitated in the language of choice of participants

by experienced bi-lingual moderators.

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Slide 9

Once we’d established the levels of existing knowledge among the various

communities, we moved to concept testing. The groups were shown a

number of audio and print advertising concepts, including video clips,

audio news releases and posters and brochures featuring the themes:

…People Smugglers ‘No Guarantee’…

…People Smuggling ‘Don’t Risk it’…

The main message understood by participants was that people smuggling

is a criminal (in some countries), serious, dangerous, and a risky

undertaking which can result at worse in death by drowning, or slightly less

palatable, in the deportation of asylum seekers if they are not found to be

owed Australia’s protection

Of the ideas tested, the ‘People Smuggling. Don’t Risk It’ theme resonated

well and the concept of risk was well understood.

The focus groups indicated that the idea was an effective discouragement

message and ultimately formed the basis of the communications activity

undertaken.

To use a central message from the material developed, we were urging

people to - ‘tell your family, friends and loved ones - don’t risk it... say no to

people smugglers’.

Interestingly the concept about “no guarantee” didn’t rate nearly as well

because for some cultures, a guarantee – be it for a fridge, a repair, or a

new watch – was an alien concept. We take so much for granted.

Slide 10

The communication materials developed included posters, brochures,

FAQs, mocked-up news articles and DVDs in the target languages of

Arabic, Dari, Farsi, Pashto, Tamil, Sinhalese and of course English.

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Given the success of the project hinged on effective communication with

often non-English speaking diaspora communities, we undertook to test

the key messages, taglines and images we’d developed for consideration.

Research found that given their previous experiences, the threat of

imprisonment had virtually no impact on those who were considering using

or supporting people smugglers.

However, for our target audience, the risk of death, of losing family

members, being deceived by people smugglers or losing money is much

more real and much more of a deterrent.

Slide 11

Images were an important part of the materials the department developed.

Artwork developed that depicted asylum seekers behind bars were

deemed by the focus groups to be largely ineffective.

Slide 12

However, the simulated depiction of an individual in the water and boat in

the distance received a unanimously strong reaction and we adopted it as

the main image for all materials.

These images strongly resonated with people who may not necessarily be

able to swim, and for whom, the fear of drowning would be very real.

This image, when developed as the basis for a video that appeared on the

YouTube site, also elicited, predictably, a strong reaction from human

rights organisations and refugee activists.

Those critical of the approach suggested that the image risked

traumatising people who may have lost family and friends in similar tragic

circumstances.

Slide 13

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In an article in the Courier Mail newspaper, Professor Linda Briskman from

Curtin University said she was shocked when she saw the YouTube

Channel.

She said the “…campaign is not in the spirit of the refugee convention and

it’s giving asylum seekers the wrong message, that they aren’t wanted”.

Slide 14

On the Crikey website, refugee advocate Pamela Curr criticised the

videos, and particularly the drowning ad.

While the department accepted the criticism of the graphic nature of this

image and the fact it may upset or traumatise people, we did not retreat

from it - many asylum seekers have previously drowned by undertaking the

journey.

Tragically, the loss of life off Christmas Island in December 2010 again

highlighted these very issues and strengthened our resolve to continue to

communicate the dangers of using a people smuggler to come by boat to

Australia.

Testing with ethnic communities continued to throw up challenges in our

communication and message development.

For example, while the Sri Lankans and Afghans interviewed regarded

people smugglers as ‘a necessary evil’ and preying on human misery, the

views of the Iraqi participants were very different – they saw the people

smugglers as outcasts whom they’d never consider.

Slide 15

A key element of the communications was the creation of a dedicated 'no

to people smuggling' YouTube channel.

Slide 16

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While the primary target was always diaspora communities in Australia,

YouTube has no borders or boundaries and of course the videos were

being watched throughout the world, including in Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran

and Sri Lanka.

The YouTube videos continued to have the desired effect of both

discouraging potential irregular maritime arrivals, while stimulating interest

and debate. Amnesty International was critical of the department’s

YouTube video, ‘The Smuggler’.

Slide 17 - vision

They complained to the department that the depiction of those under

investigation were primarily non-Anglo Saxon, whereas the police

portrayed were largely Anglo-Saxon.

The videos have also attracted significant media attention which, while not

the primary outcome we sought, was not an unwelcome byproduct.

Another one of our YouTube videos, Left Behind, showed that we could

effectively convey our key messages to a worldwide audience at little cost

to the taxpayer.

Slide 18 - vision

All production, including on-line management, graphic design and field

production was completed within National Communications Branch.

Specialist linguistic services are outsourced on a cost per project basis to

the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters.

The crew for this video comprised a Senior Public Affairs Officer as

Director/Producer, a specialised underwater camera operator with a

waterproof handi-cam, and a specialised rescue paramedic and

supervising safety officer.

Post production was completed in-house. In total, the video cost $2600 to

make.

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We also produce versions of our clips in language – this is an excerpt of

Ali’s Story – the account of an Iraqi boat person in Arabic.

Slide 19 - vision

It costs nothing to host the video on YouTube and nothing for people

around the world to link the video to their own websites. It has proved an

invaluable tool for conveying vital messages.

Slide 20

While the target audience of specific ethnic communities in Australia is

relatively small, producing videos and material that pique the interest of the

media and wider community, and perhaps work to stop one more

drowning, or one more wasted $10 000 voyage, or even work to stop

another people smuggler filling his boat with more victims, is worth the

effort we’re putting in to this issue.

Here’s an example of an excerpt of a clip with Farsi subtitles.

Slide 21 - vision

One of the most critical elements to the success of the communication

activity was the face-to-face delivery of the messages to the identified

communities.

It was never intended the developed materials would just be handed-out –

stakeholder engagement and face-to-face discussion and explanation are

key to these messages being understood, and ultimately passed on to

family and friends overseas considering the use of a people smuggler.

The department has a network of community liaison officers based around

the country who are engaged in regular stakeholder communication with

specific diaspora communities.

Slide 22

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Since the stat of the year, the ‘People Smuggling, Don’t Risk It'

communications materials have been distributed to the target diaspora

communities.

Quantifying the effectiveness of these messages is inherently very difficult.

The distribution and face-to-face explanation of the materials and their

messages and the qualitative feedback the department receives will go

some way to allowing us to evaluate our activities. We know already that

we have made inroads with the Sri Lankan communities in Australia – both

Tamil and Sinhalese – with a sharp reduction over the last six to 12

months in the numbers of Sri Lankan nationals arriving in Australia by

boat. Now we also know that the cessation of the civil war in Sri Lanka

has undoubtedly had a big influence on the inclination of people to flee by

sea, but we also believe the messages being pumped into the diaspora

communities in Australia were playing an important role.

Slide 23

YouTube also has the capacity to report quantitatively on activity on the

department’s dedicated people smuggling channel and we have used this

feature to track activity.

Slide 24

What we do know is that the NO to people smuggling channel has reached

more than 20 000 views, so we know our message is reaching people.

It will always be a challenge to accurately quantify how effective our

campaign has been. We can’t tell you exactly how many people haven’t

made a dangerous boat journey because of the information we’ve given

them.

Nor can we tell you how man lives have been saved. But we can certainly

tell you we’ve given information to potential asylum seekers about people

smugglers, the journey to Australia and the negative outcomes they face if

not found to be refugees, and we’ve done it in a multitude of languages,

utilising a range of platforms and channels.

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We hope that equipped with the facts, people will turn away from the evil

practice of people smuggling and instead come to Australia through lawful

means.

With Refugee Week soon upon us from June 19-25, we’re already in the

viral YouTube space with clips about the positive contributions refugees

make to Australian communities across the land.

I hope you enjoy this clip.

Slide 25 - vision

Thank you.

Slide 26

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