A £3MILLION project which aims to tackle 'fake news' about immigration is being launched.

Glasgow-based academics are to examine how politicians and the media shape the public’s view of migrants and refugees.

More than a million migrants and refugees crossed into the EU in 2015, sparking debate over how best to deal with resettling people as some countries struggled to cope.

Glasgow has more migrants than any other part of Scotland.

The city welcomed 8,257 new residents from outside the country in 2015, according to official government estimates.

Researchers from Glasgow Caledonian University will study how the language used in political speeches on immigration, and the resulting newspaper coverage, shapes public perception about refugees.

They will also travel to Turkey and Iraq to set up ‘advice clinics’ to ensure migrants and refugees have access to legal and employment aid and medical treatment.

Dr Umut Korkut, of Glasgow Caledonian University, said: “We are going to see what politicians talk about in terms of European integration, how they appeal to their domestic audience and what kind of ideas they introduce to the public.

“Our researchers will concentrate on three types of newspapers in each country; conservative, liberal and middle ground and see how the politicians’ speeches are put into context.

“The plan is to establish legal aid, educational aid, employment aid and public health clinics, in Istanbul and Baghdad, and we will also look to host a series of lectures to dispel the false news about immigration into the European Union.”

GCU and the University of Cambridge will provide UK research for RESPOND, an EU-funded review of the crisis, which will focus on border control, migration and integration and will involve 14 universities across the continent, as well as in Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq.