Examining the Politicisation of Asylum Through Public Information Campaigns: Deterrence Messaging for Whom?

Abstract

Public information campaigns (PICs) have increasingly become part of global migration deterrence projects. Australia’s No Way campaign has been widely publicised for its harsh messaging, declaring to would-be asylum seekers that ‘you will not make Australia home’. In this chapter, the author argues that in addition to targeting potential asylum seekers throughout the Middle East and Southeast Asia, the No Way campaign is directed towards multiple audiences, including diaspora communities in Australia, the Australian voting public, and a wider network of anti-immigration political figures. The No Way campaign represented one of the largest and best-funded Australian deterrence campaigns to date, with the distribution of materials ranging from billboards and social media advertisements to street theatre performances and graphic novel storyboards between 2014 and 2016. In the sections that follow, the author situates this argument within the context of the rise of PICs throughout the globe, as well as their use within Australia. Through the lens of this campaign, the author considers the question: for whom is this deterrence messaging? How does it target multiple audiences? The author concludes by considering the future of information campaigns as deterrence projects around the world.

Citation

Coddington, K. (2024), "Examining the Politicisation of Asylum Through Public Information Campaigns: Deterrence Messaging for Whom?", Sharples, R. and Briskman, L. (Ed.) Deter, Detain, Dehumanise: The Politics of Seeking Asylum, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 51-64. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83753-224-720241005