A claim has recently surfaced on the social media site X(Twitter) stating that European airports to enhance security protocols for Indian tourists due to multiple reports of theft and harassment. The claim has been shared by many users including Pak-based handles.

Sharing an image on X(Twitter), an account with the username @NavCom24 wrote: “JUST IN: European airports to enhance security protocols for Indian tourists due to multiple reports of theft and harassment. Once a pajeet, always a pajeet”

Subsequently, several users shared this image and made similar claims.

Fact-Check

Has European Airports enhanced the security protocols for Indian Tourists due to the multiple reports of theft and harassment? It would have undoubtedly made headlines in the mainstream media

The DFRAC team searched some keywords on Google and found that no media reports had been published in the context of the above viral claim.

On a related note, reverse-searching the image shared with the claim led us to some media reports from December 2023 carrying the same image.

Media reports from AP and Aljazeera

A media report by Aljazeera dated Dec 26, 2023, stated that a plane carrying suspected victims of human trafficking was rerouted to India while on its way to Nicaragua after being detained in France. It has now landed in Mumbai.

While no evidence of trafficking was found, the inquiry gave way to concerns about undocumented immigration that are still being investigated by French authorities.

Moreover, another media report by the Associated Press mentioned: “A charter plane that was grounded in France for a human trafficking investigation arrived in India with 276 Indians aboard Tuesday, authorities said. The passengers had been heading to Nicaragua but were instead blocked inside a rural French airport for four days in an exceptional holiday ordeal.

Further, the report cited: “Upon arrival in Mumbai, the passengers filed out of the airport without speaking publicly about what they’d been through or where they would go next. Carrying backpacks or small suitcases, some wore hoods or masks to conceal their identities”.

Conclusion

It is clear from DFRAC’s fact-check that the viral news stating European airports to enhance security protocols for Indian tourists due to multiple reports of theft and harassment is completely fake as no such reports have been published in this regard.

Analysis: Fake.