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| - Fact Check: Old video of clash between Polish forces and refugees FALSELY shared as recent
India Today found that the viral video is old and is being falsely shared as a recent incident. No such incident has occurred recently.
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India Today Fact Check
The video is from November 2021 and is being falsely shared as a recent event.
On July 11, illegal migrants on the Belarusian side of the border with Poland allegedly hurled makeshift spears at Polish border guards through the steel fence. A 21-year-old Polish border guard reportedly lost his life in the attack. The day before the attack, the Police Army Chief reportedly warned of an all-out conflict as Poland increased the number of its troops on its borders with Russia and Belarus amid tense relations between the two nations following the Russia-Ukraine war.
Now, a video of water cannons being fired at a large gathering of people is circulating on social media. Those sharing the video claimed it showed Polish forces using tear gas and water cannons on refugees from the Middle East and Africa at the Belarus-Poland border.
An X user shared the video, and wrote, “Today's feel-good video. Illegal migrants from the Middle East and Africa arrive at the Belarus-Poland border. Attacking the fences & barbed wire, the water cannon literally blows them away.”
India Today Fact Check found that the viral video is from November 2021, when Polish forces fired tear gas and water cannons at migrants trying to cross the border from Belarus, escalating the ongoing dispute between the two nations. No such incident has occurred recently.
Our Probe
Reverse-searching the keyframes of the viral video, we found several reports from November 2021 containing screenshots of the video. A report dated November 16, 2021, noted that thousands of migrants attempted to storm the Polish border from the Belarusian side. Polish security forces used tear gas and water cannons against refugees from Syria and Iraq gathered on the Belarusian side of the border. The refugees responded by throwing sticks and stones, while Belarusian border guards did not intervene to control the situation.
Poland, the European Union, and the US had then accused Belarus of orchestrating the migrant crisis by luring thousands of desperate people from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other nations marred by violence into Belarus with the promise of a relatively easy crossing into the Eurozone via Poland. However, Poland didn’t welcome the gathered refugees at its border.
We found similar video reports, confirming that the viral video is from 2021 and not recent.
We also performed a keyword search to determine if a similar incident occurred recently but found no such reports.
Thus, it’s clear that an old video of a clash between Polish forces and refugees is being falsely shared as a recent incident amid heightened tensions at the border.
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