A short film competition run by the Australian government in Sri Lanka has been "overwhelmed" with entries, despite advocates slamming the campaign for trivialising the experience of asylum seekers and "exploiting desires" of amateur filmmakers.
The competition is part of an Australian government-funded campaign called "Zero Chance". It calls for "budding filmmakers from around Sri Lanka to creatively express 'illegal migration to Australia', showcasing that there is zero chance of successfully travelling by boat to Australia".
The campaign also features games that simulate a boat journey to Australia, with each attempt ultimately failing and players being presented a series of messages, including: "You get banned from Australia for life", "You get caught by Border Patrol" and "You get tricked by people smugglers".
The film competition, which closed on Friday, offered participants the chance to win a camera, a drone, and a GoPro.
Thiyaharasa Kukeenthan is a filmmaker from Sri Lanka's Tamil ethnic group, many of whom have tried to come to Australia citing fear of persecution in their home country.
Kukeenthan entered a film into the Zero Chance competition.
"The theme of my movie is about a young boy who went to Australia by boat. His mother used the money which she saved for her daughter's marriage but the boy died during the boat journey," he said.
"His father died due to illness, his sister eloped with someone, and they had to mortgage their house to pay back the money and his mother went into depression and is still waiting for her son."
The film was inspired by Kukeenthan's own family's experience trying to leave Sri Lanka in 2009 at the end of the 37-year civil war between the Sinhalese dominated government and the separatist group the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the Tamil Tigers.
He said his family got scammed by a fake people smuggling agent.
"We paid a huge amount of money and we're now suffering," Kukeenthan said.
"This incident took place when I was 13 years old and was living in a refugee camp after the end of war in 2009.
"At the end of the civil war, many people wanted to go to Australia but fake agents targeted elderly and sick people and collected money from them on the pretext of taking them by boat to Australia."
The federal government has held onto a tough immigration policy and anyone who arrives by boat without a valid visa is not allowed to settle in Australia.
Refugee groups have said Tamils seeking asylum in Australia have one of the lowest acceptance rates among applications to settle in the country because the federal government deems them low risk of persecution if they stay in Sri Lanka.
The Home Affairs Department has announced the interception of various boats carrying Sri Lankan asylum seekers to Australia in the years leading up to 2019. In November, Sri Lankan authorities said they arrested 19 people who were waiting to leave the country by boat.
"The people in distress are ready to take risks to go abroad, they take risks for the betterment of their families, so they get trapped into fake promises by agents who say they'll take them in boats to Australia," Kukeenthan said.
"I want to spread awareness on this issue through my film and convey this story to the Australian government as well as people here through social media."
'Free messaging for the price of a drone'
The "Zero Chance" film competition Facebook page said there was high demand from Sri Lankans to enter, but some within the country's film community have said the program is insensitive.
Sumathy Sivamohan from the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka has been researching the "Zero Chance" program and works with filmmakers who have entered the competition.
"I thought the competition was horrible," Professor Sivahoman said.
"I thought this was exploiting desires of up-and-coming filmmakers in Sri Lanka trying to make it in this industry.
"I don't think these [Australian government] programs have any impact."
Sarah Dale, centre director and principal solicitor at the Refugee Advice and Casework Service (RACS) in Sydney, said there was a difference between "artistic expression of an experience or of something you have endured" and entering a "competition with the Australian government to create public messaging".
"It's ultimately going to be free messaging for the price of a drone."
Entries for the film competition will now be judged by Sri Lankans in the film industry.
"Many participants are attracted to this competition by the Australian government because they are offering a huge amount in prizes," Kukeenthan said.
"But my motive is to convey a message that this is not the right way to go to Australia."
Games slammed as 'deplorable'
The "Zero Chance" website also hosts a series of online games — one asks Sri Lankans to "spin the wheel" in a simulated boat journey.
In another, players are in a wooden boat and can earn rewards like a "comfortable place to sleep" or "some yummy food" before eventually being "turned back" after being caught by authorities.
Ms Dale said the games were "the most deplorable" part of the Zero Chance campaign.
"I couldn't believe that we would belittle people seeking asylum like this," she said.
"I couldn't believe that we would turn that horror into something so light as a game.
The Australian government has run multiple advertising campaigns in many countries discouraging people from seeking asylum by boat.
In 2019, Buzzfeed News revealed the Home Affairs department created horoscopes warning Sri Lankans they could either be in 'debt forever' or 'filled with regret' if they went to Australia illegally.
The last boat to reach Australian shores arrived in 2014.
Australian Border Force told the ABC "the anti-people smuggling campaign, Zero Chance, was launched in 2019" with a "suite of advertising and community engagement activities aimed at instigating behavioural change offshore".
"The Australian government is committed to providing a strong border protection policy and operational response to maritime people smuggling," a spokesman said in a statement.
"The Zero Chance campaign seeks to: raise awareness of Australia's strong border protection policies, alert potential illegal immigrants to the dangers of attempting sea journeys and alert potential illegal immigrants to the criminal disregard people smugglers have of their welfare.
"Offshore deterrence messaging is a critical component of Operation Sovereign Borders' multi-layered approach."
Filmmaker Thiyaharasa Kukeenthan said he still wanted to go to Australia along with many friends and family.
"Many of us would like to go to Australia, we are still trying," he said.
"Many people here still prefer to go to big countries and would like to marry and settle there."
Ms Dale said there were still questions to be answered as to how much the "Zero Chance" campaign cost and the origin of some of the concepts, including the games.
"What is the purpose of this website? Is the purpose to deter people from making a dangerous journey? Is the purpose to deter people from seeking asylum in Australia? Or is the purpose to generate and garner fear?" she said.
"I would remark that, given how degraded people seeking asylum have been in this kind of website and how belittled they have been, it could not possibly be for a genuine purpose of keeping people safe. It has to come from a place of trying to generate fear."
