Firm advising Afghans not to flee previously paid £700k by Government

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Seefar is behind websites including ‘On The Move’, which was used in a Home Office campaign to deter Channel crossings In August, Seefar was awarded a separate three-year contract to provide a “training provision framework”, for a department that “delivers strategic capability development programmes overseas on behalf of the Home Office”. “Don’t risk your life and waste hard-earned money trying to reach the UK.” The Home Office paid Facebook and Instagram over £23,000 for targeted adverts linking to the website between last December and April, as part of a campaign aiming to dissuade migrants from attempting Channel crossings. Screenshots of social media posts linking to Seefar’s ‘On the Move’ website, which were paid for by the Home Office as part of a campaign to deter Channel crossings The company was founded in 2014 and describes itself as “a recognised leader in understanding migration behaviour change”, with “extensive experience developing and deploying innovative monitoring and evaluation approaches for irregular migration communication campaigns”. Its services include deploying “behaviour change teams in conflict zones to address risks associated with displacement and migration’, production of TV and radio advertising for mass media campaigns, online engagement with migrant labourers, and working with youth vulnerable to human trafficking to ‘address ambitions and risky behaviors Public Home Office spending records list 12 separate payments and grants to Seefar between 2016 and 2018, of up to £120,000 each, but do not detail what they were for.