Australia creates fake horoscopes to deter Sri Lankan migrants

Australia’s migration policy is taking a surprising turn to say the least: to discourage Sri Lankan migrants from joining its territory, the country would use posters with false horoscopes. We could thus read: “Are you Sagittarius? You will be in debt for life. Lion? You will be full of regrets. And if you are a bull, you will be ashamed of your actions,” revealed the American site Buzzfeed.

It has been almost four years since any Sri Lankans reached Australia thanks to an illegal boat trip. During this period, Australian authorities arrested and removed more than 160 Sri Lankans who attempted to illegally travel to Australia, it is also mentioned at the bottom of the report.

“If you illegally travel to Australia by boat you will be returned. Everything you risked to get there will be in vain and you will end up owing everyone,” the Sagittarius horoscope warns potential travellers.

The Gemini horoscope is even more forthright: “You will lose your wife’s jewellery”, while Taurian asylum seekers are told “If you illegally travel to Australia by boat, expect to be returned home where you will face the humiliation of failure in your community”.

Horoscopes are particularly popular with Sri Lankans. Australia, would frequently use this type of process in its migration policy. In June 2019, noted L’Express, Donald Trump tweeted one of these famous posters. “Lots to learn,” he wrote on the social network.

As the Sydney Morning Herald indicated last year, Prime Minister Scott Morrison wants to massively reduce the number of immigrants arriving in Australia. Both major cities Sydney and Melbourne are struggling to maintain their infrastructure due to rapid migration growth over the past two decades.

“Enough, enough, enough … ” said Morrison, because the Australians can no longer bear to see so many immigrants land on their territory. Questioned in the columns of the Sydney Morning Herald, the politician, and member of the Liberal party, wishes to reduce the flows of permanent migration in Australia by at least 30 000 people . “Population growth has played a key role in our economic success. But I also know that Australians in our largest cities are concerned about this demography,” said Scott Morrison.

And the Prime Minister added that he was anxious to take into account “the feelings of the people” on the theme of immigration: “The roads are blocked, the buses and trains are full. Schools no longer accept registrations. I hear what you are saying. I can hear you loud and clear.”

Scott Morrison asked the prime ministers of the member states to create their own demographic plans and discussed the issue with them at the next meeting of the Council of Australian Governments.

Sydney especially, has been suffering under severe water restrictions, as a result of a population increase of 800 000 people from 4,4 million in June 2008 to 5,2 million in June 2018, due to migration, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures.

Each person now uses an average of 183 litres of water per day, according to Sydney Water with every new person putting additional strain on the resource, the british daily, Daily Mail reported.

Changes to the Migration Act would now prevent asylum seekers held on Nauru or Manus Island within the last six years from applying for any visa to Australia. It would mean migrants would not be able to get even a short-term tourist visa to the country.

Home affairs minister Peter Dutton admitted that the law could split up families in the statement of human rights compatibility accompanying the bill’s introduction.

The bill includes a section allowing the immigration minister to personally lift limitations, but as in the case of a Tamil family, they were unsuccessful in urging former immigration minister David Coleman to grant them a visa.

Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd declared on July 19, 2013 that “from now on, any asylum seeker who arrives in Australia by boat will have no chance of being settled in Australia as refugees”. Dutton has used this to justify the extreme measures in the bill.

A similar bill was introduced by the Turnbull government in 2016 and passed by the House of Representatives.

Australian visas are instead being advertised to rich foreigners. A photo of a Chinese billboard in Australia promoting the Significant Investor Visa can be viewed on the website Reddit, but the policy has been criticised as “selling residency”.

Wealthy elites are able to obtain a four-year stay in Australia on a 188 provisional visa in return for an investment of $5 million in approved instruments such as government bonds, funds, or companies approved by the Australian Government.

This week, two women from Sydney, one a 30 year old Australian citizen and the other a 32 year old Chinese national with permanent residency, pleaded guilty to multiple offences against the Migration Act.

Investigations revealed that neither of the women were registered migration agents after Australian Border Force (ABF) officers investigated them because they were unlawfully providing immigration advice and assistance to large numbers of Chinese nationals on regular visas.