The 4 Year old Marwan was not ‘migrating’ alone !
One can’t actually be blamed for being fooled when it comes to emotions. On Social Media we are always ready with emoticons and words full of emotions like “heart breaking” when we come across photo/video which seems so.
This photo is viral ‘again’ stating this 4 year old kid was found alone by UNHCR Team migrating from Syria to Jordan with a plastic bag in hand which had clothes of his dead mother and sister.
“HEARTBREAKING
The world woke up to this heartbreaking photo of 4 year old child who is migrating from Syria to Jordan. The UNHCR team caught up with him when he was migrating alone in the desert from Syria to Jordan. The only thing he had in his paper bag were the clothes of his mom and sister, who were killed in Syria…“
Heart broken,photo of 4 years child who is migrating from Syria to Jordan, the UNHCR team caught him when he was migrating alone in desert from Syria to Jordan.
the only thing he had in his shopper were the clothes of his mom and sister,who killed in Syria.
i cried too much. pic.twitter.com/eyLuj5M0uE— Muhammad Nawaz (@MuhammaddNawaz) March 1, 2018
#HeartBroken: A 4-yrs-old child who is migrating from #Syria to #Jordan, the #UNHCR team caught him when he was migrating alone in desert from Syria to Jordan. The only thing he had in his shopper were the clothes of his Mother & Sister, who killed in Syria. 💔😢 pic.twitter.com/4C5Pub95h6
— Habibies (@Habibies) March 2, 2018
Truth –
The truth actually is, the kid’s name is Marwan and being slow he was left behind a little from the Refugee crowd including his family and met his Mother/family later so the bag didn’t have clothes of dead mother as fake news says.
“Here 4 year old Marwan, who was temporarily separated from his family, is assisted by UNHCR staff to cross #Jordan”
The man, Andrew Harper, who first tweeted the photo in Feb 2014 i.e 4 years ago claims to be “Former UN Refugee Agency Rep in Jordan, love all things innovative, now Director of Program Support & Management for UNHCR. Despise long meetings & pessimism.
Geneva, Switzerland, unhcr.org”
He specifically said “Temporarily Separated” while the photo became viral that year and many media houses too fell for it, claiming him to be alone.
Here 4 year old Marwan, who was temporarily separated from his family, is assisted by UNHCR staff to cross #Jordan pic.twitter.com/w4s2mrNnMY
— Andrew Harper (@And_Harper) February 16, 2014
On learning that wrong message became Viral, he clarified too
Marwan's story is that he was temporarily separated frm his family in d chaos of the mass @refugees x'ing to #Jordan pic.twitter.com/ghmKtoFnYY
— Andrew Harper (@And_Harper) February 18, 2014
@TheGreatOne2012 could you pls follow so I can DM you. It was never stated that he was alone. News agencies stated that. Pls see my tweets.
— Andrew Harper (@And_Harper) February 18, 2014
This was clarified by mainstream media houses too –
“How UNHCR worker Andrew Harper’s tweet of Syrian refugee boy went viral for the wrong reason
IT WAS a picture that broke hearts around the world. A little boy, carrying a plastic bag, lost in a desert while escaping Syria. But all is not as it seems.
NewsComAu February 19, 20145:46pm
IT WAS a picture that broke hearts around the world.
Taken by a UNHCR worker on the Syrian/Jordanian border, the picture showed a boy carrying a plastic bag looking lost, desperate and seemingly alone in the desert.
And like all amazing pictures it soon swept across the internet, but not all was what it seemed.
As it turns out the boy, named as Marwan to protect his identity, was actually never abandoned or alone — he had simply became temporarily separated from his mother in the rush to cross the Syrian border into Jordan.
So how did this picture end up going viral?
Shortly after posting the picture taken near the Hagallat boarder crossing by Jordan’s UNHCR head Andrew Harper, it was picked up under the hashtag #syria.
CNN anchor Hala Gorani posted the picture, revealing her own heartbreak about the boy’s desperate situation.
UN staff found 4 year-old Marwan crossing desert alone after being separated from family fleeing #Syria. pic.twitter.com/YdCt7gZrcN
— Hala Gorani (@HalaGorani) February 17, 2014
Her post gained plenty of sympathy and retweets from across the Twittersphere, who agreed it was indeed heartbreaking.
@HalaGorani @sarahclarkeabc Heartbreaking! What a tough little guy, so awful he had to go through this alone.
— paularead (@paula_read) February 17, 2014
“@HalaGorani: UN staff found 4 year-old Marwan crossing desert alone after being separated from family fleeing #Syria pic.twitter.com/oyOsCasHV3
— Jack Hutton (@jackhutton) February 17, 2014
Mr Harper quickly clarified that the boy wasn’t alone for long and wasn’t lost.
Thanks to Jared 4 this shot showing Marwan at the back of this group of @refugees. He is separated – he is not alone. pic.twitter.com/vq2JpxjT8j
— Andrew Harper (@And_Harper) February 18, 2014
Mr Harper said Marwan had temporarily become separated from his family in the chaos of the mass refugee crossing and was soon safely reunited with his mother after being carried across the Jordanian border.
The UNHCR worker went on to explain that in every mass refugee crossing, it’s often small children, the elderly, sick, and pregnant who fall behind the main groups, and that both UNHCR staff and Border Guards looked out for these refugees in particular.
@TheGreatOne2012 could you pls follow so I can DM you. It was never stated that he was alone. News agencies stated that. Pls see my tweets.
— Andrew Harper (@And_Harper) February 18, 2014
Marwan’s story is that he was temporarily separated frm his family in d chaos of the mass @refugees x’ing to #Jordan pic.twitter.com/ghmKtoFnYY
— Andrew Harper (@And_Harper) February 18, 2014
Ms Gorani later clarified that the boy had been reunited with his mother and wasn’t lost.
But the CNN journalist’s first tweet ended up being retweeted thousands of times compared to a couple of hundred for Mr Harper’s original post.
Re Marwan pic, UNHCR now clarifying photo appearing to show boy in desert alone. UN reps now say he was briefly separated from larger group.
— Hala Gorani (@HalaGorani) February 18, 2014
More Wrong ones –
Year 2014 –
The photograph shows a 4 yrs old child migrating alone, all the way from Syria to Jordan in the desert. He was migrating with a single shopper in his hands containing the clothes of his mother and sister who were killed in Syria.
Please do remember them in your prayers. pic.twitter.com/OSQecY3aCK— Syed Owais Ali (@MrSyedOwais) March 2, 2018
This Year –
4 years old kid migrating from syria to jorden, UNHCR team caught him when he was migrating alone.
The only thing he had in his bag were the clothes of his mom and sister. Who were killed in syria.#mayAlmightysaveAllmuslims. pic.twitter.com/RCJETZiddi— AAMIR (@Almir2232) March 2, 2018
A 4 year old kid migrating alone from Syria to Jordan while during the aid men traced him in an open hot desert #SaveGhouta #SaveSyrianChildren #Syria pic.twitter.com/Dvqpb7g2vX
— Shabir Ibni Anwar (@shabiribnianwar) March 2, 2018
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What a cruel game playing world with Syrians….bombing by USA, Russia,Bashar ul Asad, israel and Iran but funny most also deputed UNHCR team to show helping Syrians… In fact these are CROCODILES who attacks on poor animals and look like to innocent face……My foot
Why can’t the orphan kids be sent to countries where people can adopt them and give them good life?
Who cares if the original message was somewhat misleading??? How does it make the situation any less sad?! People should still be doing everything they can to help him and all the other refugees as best as they can!