{"id":473585,"date":"2026-03-13T14:50:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T14:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/473585\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T14:50:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T14:50:14","slug":"ai-used-to-promote-non-existent-evacuation-flights-from-the-middle-east","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/473585\/","title":{"rendered":"AI Used to Promote Non-Existent Evacuation Flights From the Middle East"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Netherlands\u2019 largest newspaper, De Telegraaf, recently published an interview<\/a> with a woman claiming to organise her own evacuation flights from Dubai, selling seats at \u20ac1,600 (US$ 1850) each. Four days later, her photo was removed from the article, though the interview remained.<\/p>\n

Bellingcat has found that the original image not only includes artefacts commonly associated with generative AI, but that the flights referenced in the article do not appear to exist.<\/p>\n

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The story <\/a>came at a time when thousands of Dutch people were reportedly seeking urgent ways to leave the region<\/a> following Iranian missile and drone strikes across the Gulf<\/a> in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes.<\/p>\n

Published on De Telegraaf\u2019s website on March 5, the headline reads: \u201cDutch people in the Middle East feel abandoned by the government: We just rented a plane ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dutch minister of foreign affairs was confronted with this headline<\/a> during a television interview, in which he described ongoing efforts by the Dutch government to repatriate citizens to the Netherlands.<\/p>\n

The article features interviews with several Dutch people struggling to leave Dubai and Abu Dhabi, including Tamara Harema. Under the subheading \u201cDutch people hire their own plane\u201d, Harema says she was \u201crebooked five times by Emirates\u201d and that the official repatriation flights organised by the Dutch government were not \u2018taking off\u2019.<\/p>\n

As part of a group, she says, they are organising buses and have hired an Airbus A321 to fly home. Harema is quoted as saying: \u201cThe first plane is already full, so we\u2019re organising a second flight. Stranded travellers can contact us.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, several discrepancies in Harema\u2019s photo, published in the original article, suggest it was AI-generated. No trace of a person matching Harema\u2019s face or profile could be found, and flight-tracking data suggests no such plane took off.<\/p>\n

The Photo<\/p>\n

In the image below, the world\u2019s tallest structure, Burj Khalifa, can be seen through the window overlooking the Dubai skyline. Each side of the tower is unique, with platforms that protrude at different heights and in different directions. It also contains several mechanical floors, which appear as dark bands in the photo.<\/p>\n

Photo description as published by De Telegraaf reads: \u201cTamara Harema and a group organise their own flights to the Netherlands, for which they have rented an Airbus A321. \u201cOtherwise, nothing would get off the ground.\u201d \u00a9 Own photo\u201d Source: Published in De Telegraaf, March 5.<\/p>\n

By cross-checking the height of the visible platforms together with the location of the mechanical floors, it\u2019s possible to determine that Harema\u2019s hotel room faces north-west, towards the Burj Khalifa\u2019s south-east-facing facade.<\/p>\n

Comparing Harema\u2019s photo (bottom left) to all three sides of Burj Khalifa\u2019s base suggests she is looking at the Southeast facade. Source: Harema\u2019s image \/ Google Street View.<\/p>\n

Several discrepancies are visible when comparing Harema\u2019s photo with other images of the building, including an upper mechanical floor appearing higher than in other images and the absence of the water feature at the base of the building.<\/p>\n

Harema\u2019s image (left), compared to a screenshot of a video of the building from 2020<\/a> (right), suggests a discrepancy between the upper mechanical floors. The water feature is also absent. Source: Harema\u2019s image \/ Youtube.<\/p>\n

To establish whether Harema\u2019s photo could have been taken several years earlier, Google Street View imagery was analysed from 2013 onwards. No match could be found when comparing the arrangement of buildings at the base of the Burj Khalifa.<\/p>\n

In Harema\u2019s photo, the arrangement of buildings at the base of the tower does not match historic Google Street View images. Source Harema\u2019s image\/ Google Street View.<\/p>\n

Several other irregularities, as shown below, including the hotel room furniture and details of Harema\u2019s clothing and jewellery, also suggest it may have been AI-generated.<\/p>\n

(Left) a distorted lamp stand; (top right) blurring on the \u201cV\u201d of her T-shirt; (bottom right) an earring that appears to merge into her face \u2013 all discrepancies commonly associated with generative AI.<\/p>\n

Fully Booked Airbus A321<\/p>\n

Regarding whether the plane existed, Harema says in her interview that buses have already been arranged to collect passengers from two locations in Dubai on Saturday, March 7, after which a 232-seater Airbus A321 will depart from Muscat, Oman, for the Netherlands.<\/p>\n

The article notes the cost is \u20ac1,600 (US$ 1850) per person, without detours. \u201cAlthough we read that a Dutch repatriation flight costs \u20ac600, just try getting on such a flight,\u201d says Harema.<\/p>\n

According to Flightradar24<\/a>, multiple A321s departed Muscat on March 7 and 8, but none bound for the Netherlands. The only aircraft that did arrive in Amsterdam from Muscat were either government-organised repatriation flights<\/a> or scheduled Oman Air services, none of which were Airbus A321s.<\/p>\n

Two Airbus A321s were recorded on the ground at Muscat Airport on March 7. One, belonging to Gulf Air, later departed for Rome via Riyadh March 8. The other, operated by SalamAir, had been flying routes between Oman and Bangladesh until March 3, but has since remained in Muscat.<\/p>\n

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After contacting De Telegraaf, an explanation for the photo\u2019s removal was added at the bottom of the article, stating that the photo did \u201clikely not meet our journalistic guidelines.\u201d<\/p>\n

The newspaper\u2019s deputy editor-in-chief, Joost de Haas, added:<\/p>\n

\u201cRegarding the quoted Tamara Harema, the editors contacted her after Mr. Chizki Loonstein\u2014a long-standing source for one of our reporters\u2014informed us about attempts to charter a plane. Mr Loonstein informed us that Ms Harema stayed in Dubai and could tell us more about it. This led to messages from which several quotes from Harema were extracted, as reproduced in the relevant passage of the article.\u201d<\/p>\n

A search for Loonstein led to a six-month-old report from another Dutch newspaper, NRC, which claimed that Loonstein, a lawyer, emigrated to Dubai after his legal company went bankrupt<\/a>, leaving his clients, victims of fraud, worse off.<\/p>\n

Contacted for comment, Loonstein confirmed that he knew Harema and had shared her contact details in \u201can app group\u201d in relation to a flight from Muscat to Amsterdam. After this contact, Bellingcat sent him the photo of Harema to confirm her identity and asked him to share Harema\u2019s contact details. In response, Loonstein refused to provide further comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Merel Zoet and Claire Press contributed to this report. <\/p>\n

Bellingcat is a non-profit and the ability to carry out our work is dependent on the kind support of individual donors. If you would like to support our work, you can do so\u00a0here<\/a>. You can also subscribe to our Patreon channel\u00a0here<\/a>. Subscribe to our\u00a0Newsletter<\/a>\u00a0and follow us on Bluesky\u00a0here<\/a>, Instagram\u00a0here<\/a>, Reddit\u00a0here\u00a0<\/a>and YouTube\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n