An Australian government-backed film competition warning those in Sri Lanka against seeking asylum by boat has been condemned by members of Australia's Tamil community.
An advertisement on the 'Zero Chance' Sri Lanka website warning against arriving by boat to Australia.When Aran Mylvaganam was just 11 years old, the Sri Lankan military bombed his school in the 1995 Nargar Kovil school massacre.
Films must be based on 'Illegal migration to Australia', according to the website, and touch upon; “getting caught by people smugglers, risking your life in the rough seas, the effect on the lives of families [and] loved ones and issues faced after being sent back to Sri Lanka.” Figures from the Department of Home Affairs published on the Department of Finance website showed Home Affairs spent $800,000 overall on an Anti-people Smuggling campaign in the 2019-20 financial year.
“The campaign’s message is simple – there is zero chance of illegal migration to Australia,” they said. Back in 2017, the Australian government paid PR company Statt Consulting at least $15m in taxpayer-funded advertising to persuade asylum seekers in Afghanistan and Pakistan not to travel by boat to Australia.
The government granted the ‘Biloela family’, Priya and Nades Murugappa and their Australian-born daughter Kopika, 12-month bridging visas in September. “The reality is if you speak to Sri Lankan Tamils, which make up the majority of applications in Australia, they honestly believe that it's not safe for them to return, that there is discrimination and that they do feel harm.”The ABF spokesperson said, “the success of Operation Sovereign Borders in securing Australia’s borders has enabled Australia to maintain one of the world’s most generous humanitarian resettlement programs.
“Particularly both in Sri Lanka and in Afghanistan where the growing risks and the immediate dangers to people in those countries are very obvious.”
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