Old image of Rohingyas entering Bangladesh is passed off as Assam infiltrations - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 4, 2021
In light of the Assam government’s eviction drive which led to violent clashes, a social media post accompanying an image of a group of people resting on an embankment is shared with a hashtag which translates to ‘Make Assam free from infiltrators’, alluding that the image shows infiltrators who have entered into Assam, is being widely shared across social media platforms. Let’s fact-check the authenticity of the image shared in the post.
Claim: Image showing infiltrators who have entered into Assam.
Fact: The image actually shows Rohingya refugees who crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh in 2017,  fleeing the violence and persecution. The image has nothing to do with Assam infiltrations. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
This image actually shows Rohingya immigrants who crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh fleeing violence and persecution back in 2017. Reverse image search of the photo in the post led us to a 2017 news article, which published the same image in an article, which reported about thousands of Rohingyas entering Bangladesh. In the news article, the image was credited to Dar Yasin of AP photo.
Taking a cue from the above article, a search on AP Photo repository yielded the same image. The description associated with the image confirms that the image shows Rohingyas who fled to Bangladesh following a crackdown in Myanmar back in 2017. These refugees rested along the embankments at Palong Khali, Bangladesh when they were prevented from moving further ahead.
Indian news agencies which reported about Rohingya refugees back in 2017, also shared the same image in their article. Hence all these prove that the image has nothing to do with Assam infiltrations.
To sum it up, an old image of Rohingyas entering Bangladesh is passed off as Assam infiltrations.