Irish Examiner view: Mo Farah changes perception of trafficking and slavery

Olympian spent a lifetime hiding the fact that he was trafficked into Britain

Mo Farah reveals in a BBC documentary, The Real Mo Farah, that he was brought into Britain illegally under the name of another child.

Olympian Mo Farah said he was relieved that the British Home Office will not take action against him after he revealed he was trafficked into Britain.

If there was shock when one of Britain’s most-garlanded track athletes revealed that his real name was Hussein Abdi Kahin, there would have been outrage if he were stripped of his British citizenship for spending a lifetime hiding that fact. 

Given the experience of many others, it is easy to see why Farah never spoke of being illegally brought to Britain as a child and forced to work as a domestic servant after his father was killed in Somalia’s civil war.

However, he broke his silence in a documentary aired on Wednesday because he wanted to challenge public perceptions of trafficking and slavery. It is a singularly generous act that will reach far beyond the country he is now proud to call home. If there is a single message to take from Mo Farah’s revelation it is that people, no matter what their circumstances, have extraordinary potential.

While few of those who are trafficked or reduced to work for little or no money will go on to become four-time Olympic champions, many would go on to flourish and thrive if given
adequate help. Rather than think of such people as a ‘burden’ or a ‘problem’, we should consider them as net contributors.

People, when given a chance, add to society rather than take from it.