Australia produced fake horoscopes to deter Sri Lankan asylum seekers from trying to reach its shores

Home Office chart paints a painfully foreboding future of shame, legal troubles, people smugglers stealing money, and even the loss of wives’ jewellery

Australia has invested considerable resources in Facebook advertisements, brochures and even graphic novels aimed at dissuading migrants and asylum seekers

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Since 2013, Australia has detained about 4,000 migrants and asylum seekers in offshore processing centres. Photo: Reuters

Published: 4:00pm, 19 Dec 2019Updated: 5:12pm, 19 Dec 2019

Horoscopes can be harsh – but the ones that the Australian government wrote to deter Sri Lankan migrants and asylums seekers are really, really dark.

A Cancer? “Family problems will occur,” the Australian government predicted. “Luck is not in the cards for you. Do not try to travel illegally to Australia by boat, as you will be stopped and returned. You will lose everything your family owes to debt, and face family problems.”

A Sagittarius? “You will be in debt forever,” read the result. “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 fake horoscope chart, first obtained and reported on by BuzzFeed News through a freedom of information request, paints a painfully foreboding future of shame, legal troubles, people smugglers stealing money, and even the loss of wives’ jewellery (the latter afflicting Geminis).

But perhaps even wilder, and darker, is that while Australia’s Home Office itself devised these English-language brochures predicting doom and gloom at sea, at least a dozen people have died in custody since 2013 at Australia’s offshore detention centres for migrants and asylum seekers.

It’s unclear exactly when these fake horoscopes were produced, at what cost, and where and how they were distributed. Australia’s Department of Home Affairs did not respond to requests for clarification.

Since 2013, Australia has detained about 4,000 migrants and asylum seekers in offshore processing centres. photo: EPA

The pamphlet ended with a reminder that this is “a message by the Australian government” and directed readers to a government website with similarly harsh messaging against illegal immigration.