An analysis of photographs the BBC uses to illustrate
Europe’s migrant crisis has revealed the publicly funded organisation is
using mostly pictures of children, despite the actual number of
children making the trip being suspiciously low.
The United Nations Refugee Agency reported last week there were 72
per cent men, 13 per cent women, and just 15 per cent children making
the trip to Europe by sea. This was out of a total of 381,412 people,
meaning that 274,616 of those making the trip were men, with just 49,583
women, and 57,211 children.
The numbers, updated for this week, claim there are now nearly 80,000
children arriving, and over 305,000 men, and just over 57,000 women.
But a Breitbart London
analysis of over 200 images used by the BBC on its website shows a
staggering 53 per cent of children as the focal points of images, with
36 per cent focused on the men, and just 10 per cent focused on women.
By this measure, readers may assume that of the total number of sea
arrivals, over 230,000 of them are children – an overestimation pushed
by the BBC’s narrative of around 150,000.
The BBC also presents an underestimated image of how many men are
making the trip, with its images implying just 160,000 of the migrants
are men, an underestimation of around 145,000 people.
The skewed results will raise questions over the BBC’s coverage of
the migrant crisis, alongside its obligation for neutrality, accuracy,
and balance as set out in the BBC Trust’s Charter.
The news comes as it was revealed
that four in five of migrants logged by the European Union are not
Syrian refugees, but rather, migrants from places as far apart as
Afghanistan, Bangladesh and South Sudan.
The news confirms fears that many migrants are lying about their backgrounds in order to gain refugee status in Europe.
German authorities last week admitted at least 25 per cent of the migrants it has processed have lied about being Syrian citizens fleeing war.
Interior Minister for Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lorenz Caffier,
said: “At least a quarter of those refugees allegedly coming from Syria
are not from Syria, but from other Arab or African countries.”
Rainer Wendt, head of the German Police Union: “Almost without
exception, every refugee pretends to be a Syrian when in fact, many come
from other countries, even from sub-Saharan Africa”.
The BBC coverage tallies with the coverage by the Canadian state broadcaster, the CBC, which has seen a petition lodged against its coverage of the migrant crisis.