Mo Farah's Real Identity Revealed in BBC Documentary link click here to read
July 11, 2022
Today Sean Ingle writing in The Guardian (see above link) disclosed the story soon to appear in a BBC documentary about multi-gold medalist Sir Mo Farah discussing his illegal entry into the good queen Elizabeth's United Kingdom under the name of another child. This is not a unique story, as it has repeated many times in many countries where human traffickers prey on the refugee populations that continually are being created around the world. Few become the household word that Sir Mo Farah has become in his adopted land.
Farah tells how as an eight year old after his father was killed in the war in Somalia, he was sent along with his twin brother by his mother to Djibouti with hopes of being transferred on to England. While waiting to be sent there another adult took him under her wing and helped with the paperwork to get him out of Djibouti. Such a deal. Looks great doesn't it? However upon arrival he was given the name of another child. His real papers were destroyed and thus he became Mohammed Farah. He was expected to be a servant in his new household. He was eventually rescued from his predicament by a schoolteacher but he continued to live under his assumed name. He became a British citizen under that assumed name. His real name was Hussein Abdi Kahin. Will the record books be rewritten? I think not. However it has happened previously.
Kitei Son won the 1936 Olympic Marathon for Japan as a colonial subject who was really Korean forced to assume a Japanese version of his Korean name. He was born Son Kee-chung. He won the marathon in Hitler's Berlin in 2hrs 29min and 19.2seconds. His teammate Nam Sung-yong also Korean won the bronze medal that same year also with a Japanese version of his Korean name. Koreans did the running, Japan got the credit.
There was a restoration of Son Kee-chung's name to the Olympic records on Dec. 9, 2011. The Koreans lobbied hard for that to be done before the 1988 Games in Seoul, but were unsuccessful. Son Kee-chung went on to coach several Boston marathon winners in the late 1940s and early 1950s and eventually the capstone of his career was coaching the winner of the 1992 Barcelona Olympic marathon Hwang Young-Cho in 2hrs 13 min and 23 seconds.
According to the article in The Guardian, Mo Farah does not plan to reclaim his original name. The British Foreign Office does not plan to revoke his citizenship, and he will not be deported to Rwanda as the faltering Conservative government would like to do with every immigrant of dubious and not so dubious heritage or immigration status. Speaking to a former British citizen today I heard the opinion that the Rwanda initiative was mainly created to discourage future attempts at crossing the English Channel by many desperate people from all over the Middle East and Africa. "Here's your choice, mate, get in the back of the semi, or in this rubber dingy and take your chances. And if you get caught, you better start learning your manners in Rwandan.
This kind of story is no different on this side of the Atlantic. A friend recently was commissioned to write a screenplay about a young Haitian child who was sold into servitude to a wealthy Haitian household. Down Haiti way, they call them reste avecs or stay withs. His bed was the kitchen floor. When the family came to America he was brought along and continued in Virginia to sleep under the kitchen table and serve the household as he had in Haiti. Somehow though the local school board caught up with the family and they were forced to send him to school. He managed to graduate from high school and soon after joined the US Army. During the indoctrination phase of basic training he was told about the consequences of going AWOL. He couldn't understand how anyone would want to go AWOL from the army when they got good meals, clothing, a bed, pay, and promise of more education when their service was over. He got that education including a Phd. and now is a college professor in the US.
Before we look down on legals or illegals in whatever country we live in, let's not forget all the contributions that immigrants have made in our country, unless of course you are indigenous and your ancestors were here when the first immigrant landed.
George Brose
For the other side of the coin ie. if you are not so famous and not a huge public figure but still were trafficked as a child, see the following story also from The Guardian.
Less Than Famous Trafficked to Britain and Their Fate
I am sad for this Olympic runner's childhood pain - especially if he knew and missed his family.
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