One NGO has created a rumour tracker to investigate and disprove the myths circulating the refugee camps - Mediterranean Rumour Tracker

Rumours and lies: 'The refugee crisis is an information crisis'

As refugees desperately search for reliable information, one NGO has created a rumour tracker to investigate and disprove the myths circulating the camps

“You need to puncture your raft before you arrive, or they’ll send you back.” “If you apply for the relocation programme, they send you to Venezuela.” “In Europe you won’t need money, everything is free.”

These are just three of the many confusing rumours that migrants and refugees might hear. Some of them are downright dangerous, like the one about the raft. Others cause people to make the wrong decisions or take risks.

In response, the Mediterranean Rumour Tracker project has been launched to better inform migrants of the facts. Fieldworkers who speak Arabic or Farsi engage with people in the Greek camps, collect the rumours that are circulating, and then verify or dispel them. This information is posted on a dedicated website and corresponding Facebook pages in English, Arabic, Farsi and Greek.

“With our Facebook pages, we reach about 350,000 people,” says Stijn Aelbers of InterNews, the organisation that has set up the rumour tracker in collaboration with two other NGOs: Translators without Borders and ActionAid. “But we think face-to-face contact is just as important. People like to talk with a real person, they want to be able to ask questions.”

Sometimes we are able to prevent people from falling in the trap

Nayief Salameh

Migrants and refugees are constantly on the move; this means traditional media often don’t reach them. So they get their information from hearsay, from stories that circulate among their group. Aelbers says: “As many of these stories are unfounded or only half true, they run the risk [of taking the] important next steps on the basis of false information.’’
Some rumours arise simply because people misinterpret information they get. “The rumour about Venezuela, which as a South American country cannot be part of the EU-relocation programme, probably stems from a Greek ferry boat called Venizelos,” he adds.

Rumours can also be damaging in other ways. Some may be told not tell the authorities that they are Muslim, leading them to lie during registration procedures, which can cause problems later on. And rumours in refugee camps that some groups are treated better than others, or simply get better food, can lead to conflict and brawls.


Continue here in The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2016/aug/18/rumours-and-lies-the-refugee-crisis-is-an-information-crisis



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