How Syrian Super Mario is taking on the refugee crisis

In a satirical video game based on Super Mario Bros, the character evades border patrols and swaps Bowser's castle for 'Camp' in order to highlight the plight of refugees

We can assume that David Cameron is a bit of a gamer, having been busted obsessively playing Fruit Ninja and Angry Birds in the past. So there is an outside chance that, finally, he might soften his government's harsh, grudging response to the Syrian refugee crisis. Because one of the gaming world's most famous characters - the moustachioed plumber Mario - has been co-opted into highlighting the plight of those attempting to flee from the Scylla and Charybdis of Isis and Bashar al-Assad.

A Syrian artist, pseudonymously known as Samir al-Mutfi, has created Syrian Super Mario, a satirical video that is currently going viral, highlighting the horrors faced by Syrian refugees - by tweaking the 1985 video game Super Mario Bros. Mario has taken many forms over the decades, but this time he has become Refugee Mario. And instead of making his way to Bowser's castle in order to rescue Princess Peach, he merely has to get to the castle, which now bears the forbidding legend: "Camp".