Fact-check: Bogus claims circulate online of Gaza children up for adoption in Pakistan
Geo Fact Check investigated the phone number shared online and found it to be fraudulent
Updated Tuesday Apr 23 2024
In an audio circulating within WhatsApp groups in Pakistan, a man claims that over 3,000 orphaned children from Gaza, who supposedly arrived in Islamabad recently, are now up for adoption. He further provides a contact number for interested Pakistani families to inquire about the children.
The claim is baseless.
Claim
A post shared on Facebook on April 14 suggested that 3,000 children had come to Pakistan from Palestine. The post then urged, "If anyone wants to adopt these children, you can call the following number," followed by purported information about a Mufti Azam.
Attached with the post was a 37-second audio message reiterating the same claim.
This audio is also being widely circulated in WhatsApp groups across Pakistan.
Fact
Geo Fact Check investigated the phone number shared online and found it to be fraudulent. Moreover, government officials from the passports and immigration department, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Federal Investigation Agency have refuted online claims of children from Gaza being available for adoption in Pakistan.
When Geo Fact Check called the cell phone number listed in the online posts, a man named, Muhammad Azam answered. “Someone has shared my phone number in a fake online post," Azam said over the phone, "I have complained to the FIA (Federal Investigation Agency) as well."
Azam emphasised that he had no involvement in this matter and had no knowledge of any Palestinian children.
Separately, Mustafa Jamal Kazi, the director general of the government’s immigration and passports department in Islamabad, denied that any children have arrived in Pakistan from Gaza.
A senior official of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, also informed Geo Fact Check that he had not received any such complaint or information. The same was stated by Ali Shahid, a spokesperson at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
With additional reporting by Nadia Khalid.
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Cover image: Palestinians evacuate following an Israeli airstrike on the Sousi Mosque in Gaza on Oct. 9. AFP