Picture of refugee banner wasn’t taken in France

An image widely-shared on Facebook contrasts what it claims is a photo of a pro-refugee banner at a protest in France in 2016 with a picture of recent riots in the country. 

The images have also been shared many thousands of times on Twitter. 

The first picture, captioned “France in 2016” shows a group of young people apparently at a march, holding a large banner which reads: “They are not dangerous, they are in danger! #refugeeswelcome”. 

But this picture wasn’t taken in France at all. It is actually from a large demonstration that took place in Brussels, Belgium, in 2015. 

The second picture, captioned “France in 2023”, shows the silhouettes of what appear to be a number of emergency service workers in front of several burning vehicles. 

This is…