Transcript
BOB GARFIELD:
For years, an NGO called the International Organization for Migration has worked with governments in Africa and Europe to protect immigrants from the worst dangers and abuses arising from illegal flight to the European Promised Land. TV advertising in Senegal, for instance, shows a mother desperate for the help of her oldest son, not knowing he has drowned en route to his supposed new life.
But now the IOM is running another spot, financed by the Swiss government, with a strikingly different message.
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The ad shows an apparently middleclass young man who has traveled to Switzerland phoning his father in Nigeria to say everything is great, but the ad makes clear that the immigrant is lying, flashing images of his life of hardship, poverty and, it seems, crime. The message at the end: leaving is not always living.
The ad has sparked accusations of xenophobia, and even racism, funded as it was by a government that came to power on the strength of extreme anti-immigration rhetoric.
But IOM spokesman Jean-Philippe Chauzy says the ad accurately conveys the situation for African immigrants.
JEAN-PHILIPPE CHAUZY:
The reality today is, whether it's in Switzerland or in Europe or elsewhere in the world, is that migrants who are struggling in a country of destination that have enormous difficulties making ends meet, when they reach out to their family back home they never tell the full story because the full story is often too painful.
BOB GARFIELD:
These campaigns come from governments that are, at the moment, right of center and have been elected largely on immigration issues. It would be very easy to jump to the conclusion that the goal here is not really a humanitarian one but to just keep black people out of Switzerland - like, you know, stay home. No, really, it's not so great here.
JEAN-PHILIPPE CHAUZY:
Well, look, this is a campaign, the one you're referring to, that goes beyond the internal Swiss politics. This is essentially a campaign to try and save lives or to try and make sure that people take no risks when they want to emigrate, to encourage them to emigrate legally.
What you've got to bear in mind, too, is that we work with our government authors in countries of origin to get the message across that irregular migration is not a viable option.
BOB GARFIELD:
In the Swiss ad the thrust of it is don't be misled; Switzerland is not the land of milk and honey. Don't come here thinking that you're coming to paradise, which is an odd positioning [LAUGHS] for a country to take. Usually, it's like, you know, come to Switzerland, but this is — eh, not so fast.
What steps did you take to try to minimize the appearance that you're just trying to keep Switzerland and the rest of Europe lily-white?
JEAN-PHILIPPE CHAUZY:
Look, this is a very superficial comment, one that is, in a way, very hurting. Our goal is to preserve lives, to make sure that people do not die, whether they come from Africa or other parts of the world when they're trying to reach Europe.
Our goal in all parts of the world is to provide unbiased information so that people can decide and take the legal option for migration and turn their back on those smuggling networks that over and over again have shown their total disrespect for migrants.
BOB GARFIELD:
Did you have some sort of research suggesting that people in Sub-Saharan Africa were somehow unaware of the risks of human smuggling?
JEAN-PHILIPPE CHAUZY:
Well, I think that people are more aware today than they were a few years ago, if only because there's been increased media coverage of the dramas of irregular migration.
What people don't realize is that many thousands and more undocumented migrants find themselves stranded in countries of transit, such as North African countries, and there again, because they're undocumented migrants, their fundamental rights are being, you know, regularly abused.
And that also applies to undocumented migrants who arrive in Europe, who, because of their status, are made particularly vulnerable to all forms of abuse.
BOB GARFIELD:
All right, Jean-Philippe, thank you very much.
JEAN-PHILIPPE CHAUZY:
Thank you, my pleasure.
BOB GARFIELD:
Jean-Philippe Chauzy is head of media and public information for the International Organization for Migration.
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BOB GARFIELD:
That's it for this week's show. On the Media was produced by Megan Ryan, Jamie York, Mike Vuolo, Mark Phillips and Nazanin Rafsanjani, and edited this week - mainly by me. Dylan Keefe is our technical director and Jennifer Munson our engineer. We had help from Ian Whitehead and Jessica Magaldi. Our webmaster is Amy Pearl.
Katya Rogers is our senior producer and John Keefe our executive producer. Bassist/composer Ben Allison wrote our theme. This is On the Media from WNYC. Brooke Gladstone will be back next week. I'm Bob Garfield.
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