Story behind viral child reportedly affected in 2022 catastrophic Pakistan floods

After devastating floods submerged nearly a third of Pakistan, a photo of a tearful girl was widely shared in posts about the disaster. However, the photo actually shows a child fleeing violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state in 2017.

“Floods wreak havoc in Pakistan. Homelessness, homelessness, destruction.” Instagram post Pakistani actress Neelam Munir Khan shared on 25 August.

“People of Pakistan are in panic but our leaders are fighting each other for power, how will they prove themselves before Allah?”

The post received over 42,000 likes.

The torrential rains have wreaked havoc on millions of people affected by the worst floods in Pakistan’s history.

It is about one-third of the country. under the water – an area the size of Britain – following months of record monsoon rains that killed 1,300 people and washed away homes, businesses, roads and bridges.

The girl’s photo was widely shared in posts praying for disaster victims, including on Facebook And Twitter.

Pakistani lawmaker Shaughta Malik also shared the picture in a tweet on the floods.

However, this photo was taken years before the record floods in Pakistan on the Myanmar-Bangladesh border.

Violence in Myanmar

A reverse image and keyword search found the image Archives Of Getty Images.

The photo caption reads: “A Rohingya girl cries as refugees fleeing Myanmar cross a stream in the hot sun in a muddy rice field near Paling Khali, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh on October 16, 2017. are.”

This image was published in various reports about Rohingya fleeing violence in Myanmar, including by CNBC And Atlantic Ocean.

In August 2017, about 750,000 Rohingya crossed the border from Myanmar’s Rakhine state to Bangladesh to escape a brutal military crackdown.

The US Biden administration has accused Myanmar’s military of genocide against the Muslim minority.

The Rohingya have been discriminated against and stripped of their citizenship for decades in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.

AFP refutes false and misleading claims about floods in Pakistan, including Here, Here And Here.