Australia to harness YouTube to curb illegal immigration
Desperate to deter the thousands of illegal migrants which wash up on its shores each year the Australian government is embarking upon a YouTube video initiative to deter others from making the treacherous ocean voyage.
The plan will see footage of boatpeople being deported to Malaysia under an immigrant exchange deal in an effort to publicise an on-going crackdown on illegal migration by the Australian government.
Although the clips have yet to be posted it is thought they will show detainees at Australia’s offshore Christmas Island detention camp being expelled and boarding aircraft prior to arrival at detention camps in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.
Posted in eight languages the footage will target Iranians, Afghans, Sri Lankans and Iraqis in particular and represents the first time that real asylum seekers will have been depicted in this way – although their faces will be pixelated for security reasons.
Australia recently signed an agreement with Malaysia which will see 800 illegal Australian migrants exchanged for 4,000 legal Malaysian migrants.
Immigration minister Chris Bowen told Australian radio: "We know that people-smugglers tell lies. We know that people-smugglers will be out there saying, 'Look, this won't apply to you'... because they are desperate to make money off desperate people.
"I do think that many people would have access to that sort of social media, and word-of-mouth will spread quickly."