Is this ISIS fighter posing as a European refugee? Rumour goes viral.

A side-by-side image of a man posing with a rifle next to a man apparently at a European border falsely claims that an ISIS fighter is sneaking into Europe as a refugee.

There is a genuine concern in Europe that Islamic extremist group ISIS will attempt to smuggle in fighters by disguising them as refugees fleeing Syria into Europe.

With many European countries, including the UK, agreeing to house refugees during the current crisis, many have speculated that this has presented a good opportunity for the religious group to infiltrate European borders.

But despite the concern being real, it doesn’t mean it is really happening, nor should it provide any justification for kneejerk reactions and baseless accusations. Which is of course exactly what happened this week when a photo asserting to show an ISIS fighter posing as a refugee at the Macedonian border went viral across social media.

The photo (above) asserts to show a before-and-after image of the same man. On the left when he was in ISIS, and the right posing as a refugee. But it’s not true. The image is of the same man, Laith Al Saleh, but he was never in ISIS. According to the BBC, the man’s past is actually well documented, much more than the average fleeing refugees, as it turns out.

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The photo has been circulating with the caption “Remember this guy? Posing in ISIS photos last year – now he’s a ‘refugee’, Are we suckers or what!”

Al Saleh was in the Free Syrian Army, fighting the regime of leader Bashar al-Assad, when the photo on the left was taken. He was never in any religious extremist group. On the right he was actually in Kos awaiting to board a plane to Athens. The side by side photo was originally posted by The Atlantic, where someone opted to take the photo and attribute the false caption to it.

Sharing misinformation is not helpful. It is not helpful to the people who you are connected with on social media. It is not helpful to security services trying to protect citizens from genuine threats. And it is potentially dangerous for the people accused or identified in the photos.

So please stop!