Episode 6: Migration and strategic communications - can and should we try and influence migration decisions?

The Migration & Diaspora Podcast

Welcome to today's episode of the Migration & Diaspora Podcast, a podcast about all things migration, with me your host Loksan Harley.

Today I'm joined by Paul Clewett to discuss the fascinating topic of strategic communications and behavioural-based migration interventions. Paul is an independent consultant specialising in research, evaluation and operations in fragile states. After developing a passion for migration at the Migration Policy Institute in Brussels, he spent several years at Seefar, an international social enterprise, where he supported the development of its global migration, modern slavery and justice programming. Years of research in Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Nigeria have convinced him that behavioural-based interventions have yet to realise their potential for protecting would-be irregular migrants.

In today's interview, we discuss Paul's work in West and North Africa and the Middle East, where he has worked on communications campaigns that look at how migrants make their decisions and how those decisions can be influenced or better informed to affect outcomes on irregular migration and modern slavery. We also touch on some of the ethics surrounding these types of interventions, which appear to have become popular in the wake of the so-called European migration crisis. It really is a thought-provoking and important debate!

As you'll hear in our interview, Paul is able to talk about a sometimes controversial subject while conveying the necessary nuance and candour. He's also able to draw from his diverse experiences working across different organisations and geographies, as well as his own experience as a migrant who now splits his time between his London and Mumbai bases. The only criticism I have of Paul is about his choice of football team as he unfortunately supports West Ham Football Club. Well, nobody is perfect.

Thank you very much for tuning in and I hope you enjoy the interview.

You can connect with Paul Clewett on Twitter (@PClewett) or LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulclewett/).