+2 votes
in General Factchecking by Genius (43.6k points)
500,000 male immigrants are in Africa preparing to invade Europe and the U.S.

2 Answers

+2 votes
by Legend (6.6k points)
selected by
 
Best answer

This claim is false. According to France 24 "Since mid-June, several social media users have been publishing false claims that an "army" of 500,000 migrants is on its way to Italy from Libya, along with videos that supposedly illustrate this. However, the videos actually show the expulsion of irregular migrants by Libyan security forces at the end of May, and the rumors were sparked by an Italian far-right account." "Since 16 June 2023, several far-right accounts have been sharing a story based on the same images they say shows 500,000 migrants on their way from Libya to Italy. The latter seems to have edited the images to make them more difficult to verify, but the Observateurs editorial team has managed to trace their origin: the videos actually show a vast operation to expel irregular migrants carried out at the end of May by Libyan security forces in the east of the country." This would make sense as after the election of the new Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, there has been a recent rise in Italian pride and anti-immigrant sentiment as her policies mimic Mussolini as she and her political party have deep ties to fascism and fascist ideologies. When your country has a focus on anti-immigrants, it's not that far-fetched when you begin to see propaganda and false news pushing the idea for more border security and great action against immigrants in Europe.

False
by Journeyman (2.1k points)
+1
This is a great fact check. You provided your sources, as well as summarized the quotes you provided. This helps make your fact-check credible.
by Journeyman (3.0k points)
+1
This was a really good fact-check! I like how you incorporated your sources into your explanation and contextualized the situation.
by Apprentice (1.2k points)
+1
I enjoyed how you structured this fact check. It was clear and concise, and you used reliable sources.
+1 vote
by Apprentice (1.0k points)
This claim is false. There is no evidence that 500,000 male immigrants are in Africa preparing to invade Europe or the U.S. In 2020 Europe was a top destination for African migrants outside of Africa. According to African Migration Trends to Watch in 2022, "North Africans make up the majority of African immigrants to Europe. The top three—Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia—comprise over 5 million of the 11 million African migrants in Europe."

https://reliefweb.int/report/world/african-migration-trends-watch-2022#:~:text=North%20Africans%20make%20up%20the,million%20African%20migrants%20in%20Europe.
False
by Genius (43.6k points)
Is African Migration Trends the source? Or is it perhaps Relief Web that is the source?

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