We have reported on many previous occasions (see our category on Australia, here) about the problems that country is having with asylum seekers attempting to reach the shores of Australia with the help of human traffickers. Now comes word, that the Rudd government considered friendly to refugees, or more so than the Howard government was, has a media campaign to discourage potential asylum seekers from Sri Lanka.
From Australia’s 9News:
The Rudd government has employed advertising agency Saatchi and Saatchi to help scare off potential asylum seekers to Australia.
The taxpayer-funded campaign will be shown in Sri Lanka, where street theatre and local actors will help spread the message that coming to Australia illegally is dangerous, according to news.com.au.
Civil war in northern Sri Lanka has created a massive refugee problem, with more than 250,000 displaced persons in that region alone.
Saatchi & Saatchi’s Ronald Peiris said the campaign would use “street drama” to take its message directly to the people.
Actors will play people smugglers, and warn locals their efforts to escape from Sri Lanka will end in disappointment.
All I can say is it’s a novel approach.