Fact Check: Image of Afghan refugees from Turkey shown as 'only men' flight from Kabul
An image of a flight with only male passengers has gone viral on social media with the claim that it shows that only men are being airlifted from Kabul after the Taliban took over.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 24 Aug 2021 2:41 PM GMT
Hyderabad: An image of a flight with only male passengers has gone viral on social media with the claim that it shows that only men are being airlifted from Kabul after the Taliban took over. The image is being shared on Facebook with a caption, "A flight coming in from Afghanistan. Not one woman, not one child, just men. Checks and balances need to be put in place to ensure that these people coming in are genuine and not the brainwashed who have lived under Sharia law."
Fact Check
The claim is false. The image is not linked to the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan.
NewsMeter performed a reverse image search and found the same image in a 2018 report by Anadolu Agency, a Turkey news organization. The website stated that the image shows Afghan refugees, who had entered Turkish territory illegally, being turned over to the Provincial Directorate of Immigration in Erzurum. The headline of the reports read, 'Turkey deports 778 Afghan refugees.' The report mentioned 778 refugees of Afghan origin being deported to the Afghan capital, Kabul, via charter flights after completing the relevant procedures in the Turkish province of Erzurum.
A report by Relief Web, a humanitarian organization also reported thousands of Afghan migrants being sent back on charter flights from Turkey to Kabul in April and May of 2018. This was due to the 'Turkish government's response after a 400 percent increase in arrivals of Afghan migrants to Turkey during the first quarter of 2018.'
Hence, it is clear that the viral image is not linked to the current airlift situation in Kabul. It was taken in 2018 in Turkey. Thus, the claim is false.
However, it should be noted that according to recent reports and images, hundreds of Afghan men, women and children are being evacuated from Afghanistan. A recent image by the Associated Press showed men, women and children being transported from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Afghanistan.
https://www.apimages.com/
