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.”
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.
Copyright: UBC Centre for Migration Studies
Availability: Web & Print
Publication date: July 15, 2026
Pages: 3
This publication is part of the CMS Migration Insights Series. The research briefs synthesize peer-reviewed, published academic research by CMS affiliates.