An Instagram influencer has been called out for posting "troubling" images with Kenyan children.
In a now-deleted post, Spanish model Daniel Illescas can be seen posing with a young, African girl. He captioned the snap, "I missed you my little princess" and it is one of many which he has shared of himself volunteering with children in Kenya.
In the snap, both he and the child are topless, causing many to raise concerns about the girl's welfare.
Illescas also referenced his book Be Part of It as a hashtag. After a trip to Kenya in 2018, where the children allegedly stole his heart, he vowed to mobilize his social media following to change their lives for the better.
However, he has been slammed by the advocacy campaign No White Saviours, who claim that he is an example of "white saviorism", and that pictures like the one above display a "dangerous power dynamic".
They have questioned the welfare of the children in the photographs, telling the Daily Dot: "White people coming here in the name of 'doing good' are rarely questioned or monitored, which is what makes people like Daniel an even bigger threat here than he would be at home."
No White Saviours continued: "We can't know for sure the nature of his relationship with the children in Kenya but we do know that we have real concerns. We have seen too many foreign men come into our countries and take advantage of the power they hold in disgusting ways."
Now, No White Saviours want Illescas to be investigated over images of him and a young girl.
They said: "He has a history of sharing very troubling images like this with this same girl in Kenya."
The campaign pointed out a number of other examples of pictures where Illescas can be seen kissing, holding and exchanging gifts with a girl who is believed to be around 10 years old.
As per their website: "We are not saying that we do not want visitors or that we do not welcome partnerships. We are saying that the dynamics need to change."
"We often hear foreign nationals speak of how 'corrupt' Ugandan run projects are and that donors should 'not trust the locals', but what exactly is it called when a foreigner pays themselves up to 900% more than their Ugandan staff? When they can go on holiday to Zanzibar, eat at the nicest of cafes, drive expensive land rovers and live in large, beautiful homes along Lake Victoria?"
These concerns come in the wake of the discovery of the horrors Richard Huckle - dubbed the UK's worst pedophile - conducted while posing as a Christian missionary and targeting orphanages in Malaysia and Cambodia. He was recently stabbed to death in prison.
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