Charity apologises for saying ‘man in blue’ is interpreter
A CHARITY issued a humiliating apology yesterday for falsely claiming a ‘child refugee’ was really an adult interpreter.
TACT, the UK’s largest fostering and adoption charity, sparked a frenzy by peddling the untruth about the Afghan ‘man in blue’ seen arriving from Calais.
With wrinkles around his eyes and stubble on his chin, the unnamed asylum seeker’s photograph this week sparked widespread doubts that he was truly a child.
The suggestion he was a Home Office translator helping officials at Croydon immigration centre was repeated unchallenged by the BBC and caused a storm on Twitter.
Celebrities including Gary Lineker quickly jumped on the bandwagon. But yesterday the Home Office debunked the myth by confirming the man was not a translator.
Microsoft’s face-recognition software, which offers an unofficial ‘fun’ guess at ages, rated the man as 38. But when his picture
‘We regret any concern caused’
appeared in newspapers on Wednesday, TACT tweeted: ‘This is a picture of an adult interpreter working for @ukhomeoffice’.
Meanwhile, BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme announced in its top headline that charity workers believed the photo did not show a migrant. George Gabriel, of another charity, Citizens UK, went unchallenged when he told the programme: ‘ We think one of the photos is actually a translator accompanying the children.’ The false suggestion quickly gained attention on Twitter, prompting users to complain about ‘lies’ in the Press – egged on by BBC pundit Lineker. Feminist campaigner Caroline CriadoPerez wrote: ‘ That’s an interpreter not a refugee.’ She later admitted her gaffe saying: ‘ My bad not checking.’
By contrast the Daily Mail, one of the newspapers to use the photograph, had conducted extensive checks before publishing it. Conservative MP David Davies, who faced an outpouring of bile after suggesting migrants should have dental checks to verify ages, said: ‘ These charities have been caught out peddling false claims to suit their purposes, and the BBC should be ashamed of itself for repeating these claims without checking them. My fear is that any adult posing as a child will quite possibly be placed in a foster home or classroom with real children.’
Last night a TACT spokesman said: ‘Our information was from a credible source. However, if the male is indeed a migrant and not an interpreter, TACT regrets any concern caused. The tweet has now been withdrawn as we do not want to cause any further distress.’
The BBC said it had reported claims as allegations, and had reported Home Office confirmation that the migrant was not an interpreter.