An Australian government movie encourages asylum seekers to stay in their homeland

The Australian government has released a telemovie in war-torn regions with the aim of stopping asylum seekers heading for Australia by boat.

The movie, The Journey, cost the government A$6 million (US$4.59 million) to produce, market and broadcast, and is the latest push to inform the world of the country's hardline asylum policy. 

The 90-minute telemovie was shot in three countries, and tells the tragic story of asylum seekers trying to cross the Indian Ocean. It is a fictional account of the horrible journey asylum seekers face, but it is created to look like a documentary. It includes a tagline "inspired by true events," making it even more dramatic. 

On Friday, the film aired on two channels in Afghanistan after previously broadcasting in Iran and Iraq in February and Pakistan in mid-March. An Australian government spokesperson told Mashable Australia it will be replayed until July. The movie will be broadcast in five languages, Farsi, Dari, Arabic, Urdu and Pashto, but not in English. 

The film, produced by Put It Out There Pictures, will also be available on YouTube, with a potential audience of 50 million people. The government claimed initial feedback to the telemovie was largely positive. 

The company's website said the aim of The Journey was "to educate and inform audiences in source countries about the futility of investing in people smugglers, the perils of the trip, and the hardline policies that await them if they do reach Australian waters."

This is despite 96% to 100% of Afghanis reaching Australia by boat since 2009 being deemed legitimate asylum seekers -- as in people who cannot remain in their hostile homeland -- and receiving visa approval. The number of Afghanis and other legitimate asylum seekers attempting to get to Australia by boat has drastically declined since the government introduced stricter immigration policies.

The Australian government has consistently stuck by its asylum seeker policies, which include not resettling any person who arrives by boat and towing any boat that reaches Australian waters to an offshore detention centre.

The government says its Operation Sovereign Borders policy, which was introduced in 2013, saves lives by discouraging people from boarding boats, while its opponents say it causes people to remain in their volatile homeland or be detained in terrible conditions. 

In a statement to Mashable Australia, a spokesperson for the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, said this was just one of a range of measures the government uses to reinforce its message of the dangers associated with people smugglers. 

"The telemovie will complement and reinforce the anti-people smuggling messaging currently being delivered across parts of the Middle East and South/Central Asia," the spokesperson said. 

"Market research in these countries indicates that telemovies/dramas are a proven way to reach the target audience when seeking to deliver complex messages.

"Independent research in these countries has revealed misunderstandings and false rumours about Australia’s policy, and a perception that Australia remains a preferred destination country for those seeking to travel illegally by boat."

The spokesperson added it was the first time such "innovative methods" had been used to reach out to the key audience directly.

Lapis Communications, the company behind taking the telemovie to other markets, denied the film is government propaganda.

"The backers of the film are credited, that is neither hidden or denied," Sarah-Jean Cunningham, director of operations and business development, told The Guardian. "More importantly, the ideas and values around the film are grounded in addressing a very serious and tragic issue -- with the ultimate objective of saving lives."

Amnesty International Refugee Coordinator Graham Thom said in a statement emailed to Mashable Australia it is disappointing the government has decided to spend this kind of money on the film, rather than more worthwhile initiatives. 

"With record numbers of people displaced globally it is disappointing that the Australian Government has chosen to spend nearly $6 million on a film to dissuade people from seeking asylum in Australia when there are other avenues of expenditure that could have more positive outcomes for vulnerable people on the move," Thom said.

"That money could have been spent to address the root causes of why people are forced to flee their homes, used to support people in transit, or put towards increasing and improving the efficiency of resettling people to Australia."

Thom said the world is currently trying to find a solution for one of the largest populations of displaced people since World War II, and called on the Australian government to show leadership with humanitarian issues such as increasing resettlement numbers.

“The film -- and the money invested in it -- does little to address the global refugee crisis or the conditions that force people to flee," Thom said. "While some people may be dissuaded from seeking a new life in Australia, the threat of war or persecution remains in their home countries and they will still undertake a journey in search of safety, just to a different destination."

Following the backlash to the film, the Australian government committed a further A$8.6 million to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). On Thursday, Australia's Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Peter Dutton announced the additional funding at a UNHCR meeting in Geneva.

The government noted in a statement it had provided more than $258 million in humanitarian aid to the Syria and Iraq conflicts during the past five years. This funding, Dutton advised, would help with refugee resettlement. 

"Australia has also committed 12,000 resettlement places additional to an intake of more than 4,000 places for Syrians and Iraqis in Australia’s annual humanitarian programme of 13,750 places," Dutton said in the statement.

"We remain committed to working with the international community to find practical solutions to the challenges being faced."

Put It Out There Pictures has been contacted for comment. The story has been updated with the Immigration Department's comment.

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