Do migrants earn hundreds of euros more than Slovaks for the same jobs?

Only in fake news. This is the selection of hoaxes that appeared over the past week.

Refugees on a train in Hungary. Refugees on a train in Hungary. (Source: Sme - Gabriel Kuchta)

Mainstream media ignoring the arrival of Muslims is a hoax

Mainstream media are completely ignoring the fact that 20 million Muslims marched in protest against ISIS, risking their lives. It was one of the biggest marches in the history of the world.

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The article claiming this fake fact from the Alternative News Network website was shared by Slovaks. Unlike most texts within “alternative media,” it defends ordinary Muslims. The problem is that the story they portray is only half of the truth.

It is true that Muslims marched in Iraq, but the march shown in the story’s image was part of a traditional annual religious pilgrimage that actually took place in November 2016.

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Read also: Supermarkets have to fight hoaxes too Read more 

The Snopes.com website pointed to this fact and stressed that the march was no protest against ISIS, although it is true that the march took place in Iraq, despite the presence of ISIS in the country.

Every article that stresses the label “mainstream media” should be treated as suspicious. Fake news channels often try to create the impression that there are media of the main stream and then alternative media, and that these two groups can compete..

But news sites that spread hoaxes cannot be treated as equal to standard media. The organisations that are included in the category of mainstream media do not comprise one homogeneous group, and it is practically impossible that all major media outlets in the world would ignore some event.

The media did report on the pilgrimage in Iraq but did not write about the protest against ISIS, simply because it did not take place.

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400 euros for Slovaks and 1000 for migrants is a hoax

While Slovaks work for €400 a month, immigrants have accommodation and food for free, plus a thousand euros as pocket money from the state. Such false information stems from a picture collage that appeared on the Facebook fan page of political extremist and Banska Bystrica Regional Governor Marian Kotleba.

The hoax was re-shared from the page 1,580 times and had hundreds of likes.

Both numbers that the collage features are not true. No Slovak can legally be paid €400 a month. The minimum wage is set by the laws at €435 a month, and statistics show that this is currently the wage of around 3 percent of Slovaks.

The pocket money of €1,000 for migrants is outright nonsense.

Read also: The Sme daily starts a hunt for hoaxes Read more 

“Asylum seekers receive no such allowances in Slovakia,” Michaela Paulenová of the Interior Ministry told the Sme daily. They only receive food, housing, clothing and health care from the state.

An adult refugee staying in Slovakia is entitled to a daily allowance of 42 cents, which makes some €12 a month. Underage refugees receive 27 cents. Only when they are granted asylum are they entitled to the same rights as Slovak citizens. Allowances for asylum-seekers in western-European countries are higher but do not reach €1,000 a month.

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"Do ľava," (to the left) I yelled, "Nie, do prava" (no, to the right), I gasped. "Dolšie," I screamed. "Nie, nie, horšie..." My Slovak girlfriend collapsed in laughter. Was it something I said?


Matthew J. Reynolds
Czech biochemist Jan Konvalinka.

Jan Konvalinka was expecting a pandemic before Covid-19 came along.


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