Hussein Abdi Kahin AKA Sir Mo FarahTrafficked To UK As A Child
Long-distance racer, Sir Mo Farah revealed his original name to be Hussein Abdi Kahin. In his documentary, he mentioned that as a child he was taken to the UK illegally and forced to work as a domestic servant.
"Most people know me as Mo Farah, but it's not my name, or it's not the truth," he stated in the documentary.
The Olympic champion told the BBC that people who flew him over from Djibouti gave him the name Mohamed Farah.
“There’s something about me you don’t know.” @mo_farah
— BBC (@BBC) July 11, 2022
Watch #TheRealMoFarah on iPlayer from 13 July at 9pm pic.twitter.com/MeCmtk74wC
He claims that when he was nine years old, he was carried over from an east African nation by a woman he had never seen and forced to watch after the children of another family.
"I simply kept blocking it out for years," the Team GB athlete admits.
"However, you can only do so for so long."
The long-distance runner earlier stated that he arrived in the UK as a refugee with his parents from Somalia. But the truth was otherwise.
In a BBC and Red Bull Studios video, viewed by BBC News, he finally claims that his parents have never visited the UK. His mother and two brothers reside on their family farm in Somaliland, a breakaway state.
A common reaction to Mo Farah telling his story is ‘we know and love him, he’s earned his citizenship and honours’. This is exceptionalism - most trafficked people will never ‘earn’ a place in British hearts. We need humanity & empathy for all. https://t.co/lytV9KnnIo
— Lester Holloway (@brolezholloway) July 12, 2022
According to him, the woman who brought him to the UK informed him that he will be sent to Europe to live with relatives. He recalled his reaction as "exciting." "I'd never flown before," he explains.
The woman instructed him to introduce himself as Mohamed. He claims she was carrying bogus travel paperwork with his photo next to the name "Mohamed Farah."
Sir Mo claims that he had to undertake housekeeping and childcare if he wanted to eat and live. "If you ever want to see your family again, don't say anything," the lady allegedly threatened him.
"I'd often lock myself in the bathroom and cry," he recalls.
His family did not allow him to attend school for the first few years, but when he was approximately 12 years old, he enrolled in Year 7 at Feltham Community College.
Sir Mo was identified as a Somalian refugee by staff.
Mo Farah breaking his story given the current climate around migrants, is such an impactful way of leveraging his voice. So many people don’t realise how hostile U.K. immigration systems truly are.
— Amina (@yeahshewrites) July 11, 2022
Sarah Rennie, his former form instructor, tells the BBC that he arrived at school "unkempt and uncared for," knew very little English, and was an "emotionally and culturally detached" youngster.
She claims that the folks who claimed to be his parents did not attend any parents' night.
Alan Watkinson, Sir Mo's PE instructor, saw a change in the little kid when he took to the athletics track. He also mentioned that the running saved him.
"The only way I could get out of this [living condition] was to get out and escape," he explained.
The BBC asked the lady who brought Sir Mo to London for comment, but she did not answer.
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