Deterrence Before Departure: How Australia’s Campaigns Seek to Discourage Asylum Seekers

Public information campaigns are often framed as humanitarian efforts to support vulnerable migrants. However, recent research reveals how governments manipulate cultural knowledge to deter asylum seekers before they even leave home.

Between 2000 and 2009, Afghan Hazara asylum seekers made up nearly half of the migrants who arrived in Australia by boat. In response, the Australian government funded cultural research to produce information campaigns, claiming to protect and inform them about the dangers of sea journeys. While framed as care, Dr. Helena Zeweri argues these campaigns used the community’s own values against them to deter migration.

“In today’s security landscape, enforcement efforts not only aim to prevent migrants from crossing borders; they also aim to prevent the very desire to migrate from forming.”

Helena Zeweri

Assistant Professor, UBC Anthropology

Key Findings

The Afghan Hazara community has been one of the largest asylum-seeking populations in Australia. Between 2000 and 2009, Afghan Hazaras made up nearly half of those who sought refuge in Australia via ‘irregular’ sea routes.
In response, the Australian government commissioned research on the Hazara community in Afghanistan to develop targeted anti-migration public campaigns. These campaigns portrayed Hazara asylum seekers as ignorant of the dangers posed by smugglers, the boat journey, and even Australia’s offshore detention centres.
The campaigns developed a deterrence through cultural values approach. Depicted as care and protection, they framed migration as an irresponsible act that would inevitably fail, bringing shame and financial ruin to families.

Recommendations

Migration researchers should think carefully about how public information campaigns can keep asylum seekers from getting the help they need. If governments control research agendas, even research that is culturally sensitive can work to support strict border policies that exclude people seeking asylum.
Policymakers must recognize that migration deterrence cannot be done humanely. Whether through detention or public information campaigns, these measures punish and restrict asylum seekers from seeking protection.

Implications for Current Events

In May 2026, the European Commission announced the winners of €10 million in grants for projects developing public campaigns on irregular migration from countries such as Pakistan and Iraq to Europe. The funded projects aim to research the key influencers who shape migration aspirations – families, peers, and local actors – to subsequently reduce irregular migration by highlighting smuggling risks, encouraging legal pathways, and combating misinformation. In short, these grants aim to shape the choices of potential migrants and asylum seekers before they even decide to migrate.

Dr. Helena Zeweri’s research shows that public information campaigns are not new. Through an analysis of Australia’s 2014 public information campaigns targeting the Afghan Hazara community, she shows how the Australian government similarly commissioned research to understand the community and its cultural life and values. In Australia, this campaign included a graphic novel branded as a humanitarian effort to save lives. Yet, Zeweri finds that by depicting one’s search for safety as an act that brings shame and financial ruin to families, these campaigns actually exploited the community’s cultural values to deter people from ever aspiring to migrate.

About the Authors

Helena Zeweri is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. Her research examines the social impact of Australia’s deterrence-based border regime, including Australia’s approach to migration deterrence through maritime surveillance, offshore detention, prolonged temporary status, and global messaging campaigns that stretch all the way back to migrant origin countries. Her research seeks to advance a more ethnographically and historically informed understanding of migration deterrence as concerned with migrant social worlds before and after arrival.

Capri Kong is a PhD student in the Department of Sociology at the University of British Columbia. She holds a BA degree and a Master’s degree from the University of British Columbia. Her current research studies the characteristics and dynamics of friendship networks among first- and second-generation immigrants and their influence on immigrants’ sense of belonging and integration into Canadian society.

Original Research

Zeweri, Helena. 2024. “Disciplining Subjectivity in Australian Migrant Deterrence Campaigns.” Journal of Refugee Studies 37 (2): 534-551.

Suggested Citation

Kong, Capri. 2026. “Deterrence Before Departure: How Australia’s Campaigns Seek to Discourage Asylum Seekers”. CMS Migration Insights Series. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Centre for Migration Studies.

Document details

This publication is part of the CMS Migration Insights Series. The research briefs synthesize peer-reviewed, published academic research by CMS affiliates.

Which Families Belong? Rethinking Canada’s Family Class Program

Living in Micro-Networks: How Korean Migrants Manage Social Networking and Belonging in Canada

For a recent wave of Korean labour immigrants in Canada, immigration was less about economic gain and more about achieving a quieter, less competitive way of life. However, a quieter life can also mean a decreased sense of belonging.

Fleeing a hyper-competitive culture, Korean labour migrants in Canada prioritize a balanced way of life. To do so, they engage in “micro-networking,” keeping their social circles small and private. While helpful in fostering work-life balance, Dr. Kyong Yoon’s research shows that micro-networking practices also limit newcomers’ access to integration, sometimes leading to professional dissatisfaction and loneliness.

Read the Brief

“Micro-networking helps Korean immigrants preserve the balanced lifestyle they sought in Canada, but it also isolates them from broader communities, leading to loneliness and professional unfulfillment.”

Kyong Yoon

Professor, UBC English and Cultural Studies

Key Findings

A recent wave of South Korean labour migrants is settling in Canada, motivated by a desire to escape the hyper-competitive culture of their homeland for a more relaxed, balanced lifestyle.
Once in Canada, Korean migrants tend to build small, private “micro-networks” composed of family and close friends due to perceived social pressure and language barriers.
While this micro-networking strategy supports their desired lifestyle, it also leads to challenges like underemployment, loneliness, and a weakened sense of social belonging in Canada.

Recommendations

Governments should recognize that immigrants do not follow a single, uniform path to social and economic integration. It is important to support newcomers in building social connections without imposing a one-size-fits-all program or practice.
Settlement agencies should acknowledge and address barriers that limit migrants’ sense of belonging and ability to connect with broader immigrant and local communities.

Implications for Current Events

According to the 2025 World Happiness Report, Canada has fallen to 18th place globally, continuing a downward trend from its top-five ranking in 2015. Defining well‑being not only by economic conditions but also by the strength of social relationships, trust, and everyday forms of connection, the report found that these relational foundations are weakening in Canada. These findings raise concerns about how newcomers navigate their search for connection, social support, and a sense of belonging after arriving in Canada.

Dr. Kyong Yoon examines this dynamic through the experiences of recent Korean labour immigrants in Canada. Many came to Canada seeking relief from Korea’s intense social pressures and hoping to secure a more relaxed lifestyle. Once in Canada, they adopted “micro‑networking” strategies—intentionally maintaining small, private social circles to avoid perceived pressures and competitiveness with local Korean communities. While they found quieter lives, Yoon shows how small social circles coupled with structural barriers like language also led to underemployment, loneliness, and a weakened sense of belonging.

About the Authors

Kyong Yoon is Professor of Cultural Studies at the University of British Columbia Okanagan. His research focuses on digital media, migration, and Korean pop culture. His recent publications include Digital Mediascapes of Transnational Korean Youth Culture (Routledge, 2020), Transnational Hallyu: The Globalization of Korean Digital and Popular Culture (Bloomsbury, 2021), Diasporic Hallyu: The Korean Wave in Korean Canadian Youth Culture (Palgrave, 2022), and East Asian Media Culture in the Age of Digital Platforms: Narratives, Industries, and Audiences (Routledge, 2026).

Original Research

Yoon, Kyong. 2025. “Living in Micro-networks: Korean Migrants’ Social Networking Practices in Canadian Cities.” International Migration 63 (3).

Document details

This publication is part of the CMS Migration Insights Series. The research briefs synthesize peer-reviewed, published academic research by CMS affiliates.

Is the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement Doing What It Is Supposed to Do?

Migrant Integration Services in Canada: Adapting to the Changing Landscape

One Label, Many Realities: ‘Birth Tourism’ and the Lived Realities of Non-resident Mothers in Canada

For many non-resident mothers, giving birth in Canada is not entirely about taking advantage of the system—it reflects a more complex migration and family planning story. Yet, political debates persistently frame them as “birth tourists.”

Dr. Amanda Cheong and PhD candidate Hilal Kina conducted interviews with non-resident mothers who had previously given birth in Canada. Their research shows that rather than a uniform group of strategic citizenship-seekers, many non-resident mothers give birth while working, during studies, as asylum claimants, or because of instability and violence in their home countries.

Read the Brief

“Legislative efforts to restrict birthright citizenship risk excluding diverse families with varied reasons for migrating and having children in Canada. Despite its flaws, territorial birthright remains essential and should be protected.”

Amanda Cheong

Assistant Professor, UBC Sociology

Key Findings

Non-resident mothers give birth in Canada for various reasons. Often lumped together as birth tourists, these births can be accidental, strategic, or simply incidental to women’s personal and professional goals in Canada.
Women’s reproductive journeys are also shaped by structural factors. Many non-resident mothers give birth in Canada due to factors in their homeland, like fleeing violence or political instability or delays in Canada’s immigration system.
Current estimates on birth tourism rates are misleading. Existing methods use hospital billing codes, which lump together a range of non-residents including international students and asylum seekers—many of whom do not fit the definition of a birth tourist.

Recommendations

Governments should move beyond hospital billing codes when assessing birth tourism. They should invest in understanding the broader structural conditions that shape non-resident families’ reproduction decisions.
Canada’s birthright citizenship should be protected. Birthright citizenship is essential to ensuring that all residents of Canada are afforded rights and to fostering the long-term inclusion of families who contribute to society.

Implications for Current Events

In 2024, the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) data registered 5,430 “other country resident self-pay” births in Canadian hospitals—more than double the pandemic-era average of 2,339, and approximately 2% of all hospital births. Political attention to non-resident births prompted an amendment to Bill C-3 to eliminate automatic birthright citizenship unless one parent is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. However, using only the hospital code to measure possible cases of birth tourism ignores many temporary immigration status holders do not fit the definition of a “birth tourist”.

Dr. Amanda Cheong and her colleagues’ research responds directly to this tension. Drawing on interviews with non-resident mothers in Canada, their study shows that motivations and circumstances behind non-resident mothers’ births are far more varied than the label implies. While some mothers deliberately planned their births in Canada for citizenship purposes, many others were seeking asylum or working or studying in Canada at the time they gave birth. As such, they argue that hospital-code estimates overstate the phenomenon and overlook the diverse experiences of non-resident mothers in Canada.

About the Authors

Amanda Cheong is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of British Columbia. Her research focuses on how legal status and documents shape people’s lives, particularly in Southeast Asia and in North America. Her research has been published in International Migration Review, Social Problems, and Ethnic and Racial Studies. She is writing a book about the experiences of stateless individuals in Malaysia. She earned her BA at the University of British Columbia and her PhD at Princeton University.

Hilal Kina is a PhD candidate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. Hilal’s doctoral research centers on dispossession, systemic marginalization and everyday resistance, particularly within the context of Armenians in Turkey. Hilal’s MA work focused on the role of collective apologies in post-conflict settings. Hilal has been actively involved in initiatives supporting social justice, decolonization and Indigenous self-determination in various contexts.

Original Research

Cheong, Amanda R., Megan Gaucher, Jing Li, Stephanie Nedoshytko, Jamie Chai Yun Liew, Angela M. Contreras-Chavez, Hilal Kina, Nikita McDavid, and David Brush. 2025. “Unpacking ‘Birth Tourism’: Incidental Citizenship and the Diverse Migration and Reproduction Trajectories of Nonresident Mothers in Canada.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 51 (17): 4299-4319.

Document details

This publication is part of the CMS Migration Insights Series. The research briefs synthesize peer-reviewed, published academic research by CMS affiliates.

How will Bill C-12 impact Canadian immigration and refugee protection?

On March 26, 2026, Bill C-12: Strengthening Canada’s Immigration System and Borders Act became law. It reshapes Canada’s refugee claims system, expands government discretion over immigration documents, and increases government power to share personal information.

Read the explainer to understand what’s in the bill, why it was introduced, and what it means for refugee claimants, temporary migrants, and community organizations.

Download the explainer

Why does this matter?

The government says Bill C-12 will reduce backlogs, close loopholes in immigration rules, deter misuse of the refugee system, and make processes more efficient. However, migrant rights and civil society organizations argue it will:

Undermine refugee protection and procedural fairness
Exacerbate vulnerability for temporary residents and people seeking protection
Broaden executive discretion and sharing of personal data
Shift or even increase (rather than reduce) backlogs
Erode legal and constitutional protections

About the author

Lisa Ruth Brunner, PhD, is a Research Associate at the University of British Columbia Centre for Migration Studies. She studies immigration, citizenship, and education, with expertise in international student mobility, multi-step migration, and refugee resettlement. She has over fifteen years of professional experience in newcomer settlement in Canada and the U.S. and has been a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant since 2014.

Suggested citation

Brunner, Lisa Ruth. 2026. “How will Bill C-12 impact Canadian immigration and refugee protection?” Immigration Policy Decoded (No. 2026-01). Vancouver: University of British Columbia Centre for Migration Studies.

Document details

This publication is part of the CMS Immigration Policy Decoded Series.

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Whither Temporary Migrant Work? Differential Inclusion and Precarity in Canada’s International Mobility Program

Play by the Rules: Racialization and Mental Health of Chinese Canadian Youth

For many Chinese-Canadian youth, the pandemic was not just a health crisis, but a period of intensified racialization that damaged their mental well-being and hindered their access to support.

Anti-Asian racism is not new, but the COVID-19 pandemic amplified its reach and intensity and had a direct and damaging impact on the daily lives and mental well-being of Chinese-Canadian youth. In response, many have developed strategies to navigate the rules of racism to overcome discriminatory encounters at the expense of their emotional and mental health. Dr. Carla Hilario and her colleagues examine these experiences and strategies, highlighting youth’s struggles with racialization and the barriers that make professional mental health services feel out of reach.

Read the Brief

“We must not mistake the resilience of youth for a positive outcome. Enduring racism is a painful, lifelong burden—not a rite of passage.”

Carla Hilario

Assistant Professor, UBC School of Nursing

Key Findings

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese-Canadian youth experienced an increase in racism. These encounters became more frequent, “blatant,” and “violent” than their previous experiences.
Chinese-Canadian youth referred to a set of “rules” to navigate racism, including ignoring it, confronting perpetrators, educating others, or even going along with it to preserve relationships—often at a personal and emotional cost.
Experiences of racism led to feelings of loneliness, anger, and a decreased sense of self-worth. Some affected youth faced barriers to mental health care, including a lack of providers who can understand their experiences with racism.

Recommendations

Mental health services can prioritize psychological safety for racialized youth by promoting and providing culturally safe care. Without it, individuals experiencing discrimination will not necessarily be able to access and/or receive the support they need.
Healthcare institutions can implement mandatory anti-racism training to better equip service providers working with youth. All institutions serving racialized youth need the tools to identify and address barriers to care and inclusion.

Implications for Current Events

A recent University of Ottawa survey has sounded the alarm on Canada’s national youth mental health crisis. Results show that racialized and Indigenous communities suffer disproportionately higher rates of depression and anxiety than their white counterparts. Racial discrimination was found to be a key driver, with the survey warning that chronic exposure can impair the overall health and academic or workplace outcomes of racialized youth. While the survey data confirms the link, the survey does not address how racialized youth navigate daily experiences of racial discrimination and their mental well-being.

Dr. Carla Hilario and her colleagues’ research provides a deeper understanding of these lived experiences. Focusing on the experiences of Chinese-Canadian youth during the COVID-19 pandemic, their study reveals the strategies that youth developed to negotiate and overcome anti-Asian racism. The research documents the profound psychological toll of racialization—like anger and isolation—to the coping mechanisms they built through mutual support. Ultimately, Dr. Hilario and her colleagues emphasize that these experiences with racism have a lasting negative effect on youth mental health and their access to care. They encourage healthcare professionals to recognize the impact of racism and to conduct anti-racism training to support racialized youth.

About the Authors

Carla Hilario (RN, PhD) is a nurse scientist, Michael Smith Health Research BC Scholar, and Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia-Okanagan. Dr. Hilario’s research examines the structural and social determinants of young people’s health, including migration as a determinant of mental health outcomes and access to health care services for newcomers, immigrants, refugees, and racialised young people.

Original Research

Ng, Isabella, Carla Hilario, and Jordana Salma. 2025. ““If I Stay Quiet, the Only Person that Gets Hurt is Me”: Anti-Asian Racism and the Mental Health of Chinese-Canadian Youth during the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Canadian Journal of Nursing Research 57 (1): 33-46.

Document details

This publication is part of the CMS Migration Insights Series. The research briefs synthesize peer-reviewed, published academic research by CMS affiliates.