Picture of Syrian boy gone viral on Twitter, is nothing but fake

A misinterpreted -more exactly: cut apart by a malicious mind- picture of a young Syrian boy has led to sympathy and backlash - but that misses the point, United Nations staff say.

A photograph gone viral on Twitter depicts four-year-old Marwan - a name given to the boy by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to protect his identity - apparently alone in the desert at the Hagallat border crossing between Syria and Jordan, separated from his family, holding a plastic bag of possessions.

The image was tweeted by United Nations staff with the caption: "Here 4 year old Marwan, who was temporarily separated from his family …", and then retweeted to a wider audience by a CNN International anchor with the caption "UN staff found 4 year-old Marwan crossing desert alone after being separated from family fleeing #Syria".

Scepticism followed when a second photograph posted by UN staff on Tuesday showed Marwan was not alone, but "20 steps" behind his family and several dozen refugees.