Sir Mo Farah has admitted that he was taken to the UK illegally as a child and made to work as a domestic servant.
The Olympic athlete revealed to the BBC that the people who flew him over from Djibouti gave him the name Mohamed Farah. Hussein Abdi Kahin is his true name.
He claims that when he was nine years old, a woman who he had never seen had transported him over from an east African nation and forced him to care for another family's children.
Team GB athlete: "For years I just kept blocking it out."
However, you can only ignore it for so long.
The distance runner earlier claimed that he and his parents fled Somalia for the UK.His mother and two brothers reside on the family farm in the breakaway state of Somaliland, he claims in a BBC and Red Bull Studios documentary that was viewed by BBC News and will air on Wednesday.
When Sir Mo was four years old, his father, Abdi, was murdered by stray gunshot during civil unrest in Somalia. Although Somaliland declared its independence in 1991, it is not recognized globally.
When he was pulled away from home to live with family in Djibouti, according to Sir Mo, he was between the ages of eight and nine. Then a woman he had never met and was unrelated to flew him to the UK.
He claims he was "happy" when she told him he was being sent to live with relatives in Europe. He claims, "I'd never been on an aircraft before.
He was instructed to use his name, Mohamed, by the woman. He claims she was carrying forged travel paperwork bearing his picture and the name "Mohamed Farah."Upon their arrival in the UK, the woman led him to her home in Hounslow, west London, and demanded a piece of paper from him that contained the contact information for his family.
"She tore it up in front of me and threw it in the trash. I realized I was in trouble then "He claims.
If he wanted to put food in his mouth, Sir Mo claims he had to take care of the house and the kids. If you ever want to see your family again, don't say anything, the woman allegedly urged him.
He admits that he would frequently just lock himself in the bathroom and cry.
His family forbade him from attending school for the first few years, but when he was about 12 years old, he registered for Year 7 at Feltham Community College.
Sir Mo was described as a Somalian refugee by the staff.
He arrived at school "unkempt and uncared for," knew very little English, and was a "emotionally and culturally isolated" boy, according to his former form instructor Sarah Rennie, who talked to the BBC.
She claims that the persons who claimed to be his parents didn't show up to any parent-teacher conferences.Alan Watkinson, Sir Mo's PE instructor, observed a change in the young man as he entered the track.
He claims that the only language he seemed to comprehend was the language of physical education and sports.
As "the only thing I could do to get away from this [living environment] was to get out and run," Sir Mo claims that sport was a lifeline for him.
At some point, he opened up to Mr. Watkinson about his real identity, his upbringing, and the family he was being made to work for.The physical education instructor got in touch with social services and arranged for another Somali family to care for Sir Mo.
Even though I still missed my true family, things improved after that, according to Sir Mo.
"A lot of weight seemed to have been taken off my shoulders, and I felt like myself again. The authentic Mo first appeared at that point."
Sir Mo started to gain recognition as an athlete, and at the age of 14, he received an invitation to represent English schools in a race in Latvia. However, he lacked the necessary travel paperwork.Under the name Mohamed Farah, Mr. Watkinson assisted him in obtaining British citizenship, which was granted in July 2000.
According to the lawyer Alan Briddock, Sir Mo's nationality was "obtained by fraud or misrepresentations" in the documentary.
If a person's citizenship was obtained fraudulently, the government is legally permitted to revoke their British nationality.Mr. Briddock clarifies that there is little chance of this happening in Sir Mo's situation.
He informs Sir Mo that the basic concept of trafficking is the movement of people for exploitative objectives.
"In your instance, you were forced to care for little children and work as a domestic servant when you were a very young child yourself. After that, you informed the appropriate authorities that "that is not my name." All of those factors work together to reduce the possibility that the Home Office may revoke your nationality."I was'saved' by running.
According to Sir Mo, he wants to share his experience to dispel misconceptions about human trafficking and slavery.
"I didn't realize there were so many individuals going through the same situation as me. Just goes to illustrate how fortunate I was "He claims.
"I could sprint, and that was truly what saved me, what set me apart."
The BBC has contacted the woman who brought Sir Mo to London but she has not answered.
[zombify_post]
0 Comments