Newspaper says group arriving in back of lorry were actually from Iraq and Kuwait, contrary to claims in front-page article

The Daily Mail has published a 54-word correction to a front page story that claimed that a group of migrants who arrived in the UK in the back of a lorry declared: “We are from Europe – let us in.”

The newspaper ran the article, by its reporters James Slack and Jason Groves, on Thursday with the headline: “As politicians squabble over border controls, yet another lorry load of migrants arriving in the UK declaring ... We’re from Europe – let us in!”

However, in the correction published at the bottom of page two on Friday, the Mail said the group were from the Middle East.

“In common with other newspapers, we published a reputable news agency’s story which said that stowaways intercepted in east London had told police that they were ‘from Europe’,” it said.

“In fact, while they had travelled to the UK in an Italian vehicle from mainland Europe, the migrants told police they were from Iraq and Kuwait.”

The Sun also ran an article making similar claims. After the pieces were published, inaccuracies within them were highlighted on social media. The video, captured by electrician Tom Andrews and published by a news agency, shows police officers asking the group of eight adults and three children: “Do you speak English? Where are you from?” The refugees can clearly be heard to respond: “Iraq... and Kuwait.”

The Daily Mail was on Friday criticised by the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, an independent national charity which exists to campaign for justice in immigration, nationality, and refugee law and policy. Saira Grant, the charity’s chief executive, told the Guardian: “It is absolutely vital that the media report accurately, without scare-mongering or demonising certain groups.

“Inaccurate stories like this lead to a toxic public debate which very much affects how we treat refugees and migrants who are often in fear for their lives and futures. We are pleased this has been corrected, but we cannot continue to set our nation’s policy in a context of half-truths and headline grabbing distortions of reality.’

The correction comes as commentators continue to call out EU referendum campaign rhetoric that is seen to be misleading or divisive.

On Thursday, an anti-migration poster unveiled by Nigel Farage was reported to police with the complaint that it could incite racial hatred and breach UK race laws. The poster showed a queue of mostly non-white migrants and refugees with the slogan: “Breaking point: the EU has failed us all.” The photo used was of people crossing the Croatia-Slovenia border in 2015, with the only prominent white person in the photograph obscured by a box of text.

Official campaigning remains suspended after the killing of the Labour MP Jo Cox on Thursday.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Daily Mail front page from June 16 Photograph: Associated Newspapers

In May, the Mail published a correction to a story published in February that claimed EU immigrants were convicted of 700 crimes a week. It later said the figures related to “notifications”, which include breaches of court orders and appeals, as well as convictions.



That correction followed a series of complaints lodged with the Independent Press Standards Organisation by InFacts, a group campaigning for Britain to remain in the European Union, about referendum stories in the Mail, Mail Online, the Daily Telegraph and Daily Express.

On Friday, Ipso said it had not yet received any complaints about the Daily Mail headline or article.