The fake refugee images that are being used to distort public opinion on asylum seekers

Numerous images of mainly Syrian refugees carrying smartphones have also been shared by right-wing blogs and commentators on social media arguing they do not need Europe’s help.

But as James O’Malley wrote in a comment piece for The Independent, possessing a phone is no indicator of how deserving an asylum seeker is of refuge, and middle-income countries like Syria are clearly just as susceptible to conflict as anywhere else.

“The answer to how surprised should we be that many of the Syrian refugees have smartphones is a resounding ‘not very’,” he said.

“The world isn't a binary split between 'rich' and 'poor' – and we should adjust our assumptions about the countries in the middle accordingly.”

'Aylan Kurdi’s dead body was staged to sway opinion'

In one of the most heartless conspiracy theories circulating online, people are claiming that the body of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi was “staged” on a Turkish beach as part of a political plot to garner global sympathy.

People have seized on an image of a Turkish police officer picking up a child’s body on a markedly different section of beach to argue that the child’s body was moved for a photo opportunity.

“Little Aylan Kurdi, if he is dead, did not drown. He was killed. And the picture is a set-up fake. His body has been arranged in position,” one person wrote on Twitter.

Knights Templar International wrote: “Goulish (sic) propagandists moved and used the dead body of the little boy drowned on a Turkish beach to get pictures that would ‘best’ manipulate public opinion.”

“The media, who buy in to the UN’s politics, can not only advance its ideological aim, they can also financially benefit from twisting the true facts of the death of poor little Aylan Shenu,” a conspiracy blog added.

“And if there ever was a doubt about this being anything else, please, consider this, most telling fact:  before the most heart-wrenching photos of little Aylan were taken, his body was specifically and intentionally posed!”

But the photo used as “evidence” of the alleged forgery is actually of Aylan’s older brother, five-year-old Galip, who also drowned alongside his mother as they tried to cross the Aegean Sea.

His body, washed up on a different stretch of beach nearby, is visibly larger and dressed in different clothing and shoes.

And far from it being a “staged” shot, the photographer who took the now iconic image of Aylan has told how she was in Bodrum to await refugee arrivals and noticed “lifeless bodies” on the beach by chance.

'Europe is being invaded by swarms of refugees'

Although the number of refugees and migrants arriving in Europe is undeniably huge – with estimates for this year so far hitting 500,000 people – many of the alarmist photos being circulated are fake.

Belgian television station RTBF revealed that this image, claiming to show the “invasion of Italy” by “illegal immigrants” actually dates from 1991 and showed “La Vlora” bringing 20,000 migrants to the Italian port of Bari.

Zakia Khattabi, co-president of the country’s Ecolo party, reposted the photo on Twitter, writing that she’d had “enough” of the “disgusting political game” being played in Europe.

Another image of La Vlora, showing desperate Albanians climbing ion to the ship before it set off, was shared by Pegida UK on its Facebook page in a post that garnered comments calling for it to be “torpedoed”.

'If refugees needed protection, they would bring their wives and children'

A much-shared meme posted on Facebook by far-right group the English Defence League (EDL) contrasts photos of British soldiers and male refugees arriving in Germany.