Amid fierce competition, Olympics is about the message of inclusivity to all humankind
The Olympic Games have sent out a message for the second time running, first from Rio in 2016 and now from Tokyo, that it is not all about winning, it is also about belonging. The message comes from just 29 sportspersons who represent 82 million people currently Stateless or displaced from their homes and living as refugees across the world. They now have a voice and a platform after the International Olympics Committee (IOC) decided that refugees should get the opportunity to pick up their lives’ threads through sport. The IOC invited 10 refugee athletes to the Rio Olympics representing the Refugee Olympic Team. The figure went up by nearly three times to 29 in Tokyo, a telling reminder that the number of refugees is growing at a similar pace. If these athletes are able to take part in the Olympics, it is because they are no longer worried about persecution or hunger. They have homes though far away from home, are safe and secure, and enjoy all rights and freedom. However, the frustration of a refugee status hurts them. “One day, one time, if my country settles down, maybe I will go back and represent my country.” That is the dream of refugee Paulo Amotun Lokoro, who is competing in 1500 metres in Tokyo. The South Sudanese former cattle herder fled to Kenya to escape a civil war.
Afghan Nigara Shaheen left for Pakistan as an infant and has encountered abuses and life threats from both countries but refuses to allow her past to destroy her dreams of a medal in judo. Syrian swimmer Yusra Mardini became a world headline in 2015 when she and her sister decided to flee Syria and both had to swim for their lives in the Mediterranean when the dinghy in which they were escaping took water. Swimming saved her life then and is now the sport she banks her dreams on. Between 2015 and the present day, the rallying call of the IOC has not translated into the world relaxing their policies on refugees. Japan, for instance, where the current Games are being held, is said to have granted asylum to less than one per cent of the refugees and asylum-seekers who applied in 2019, despite having the third-largest economy in the world. In contrast, Germany, which ranks fourth among top economies, accepted nearly 53 per cent of the refugees in the same year. Syrians, Afghans, Rohingyas and Africans contribute the maximum number of refugees in the world today. However, very few countries have kept their borders open. In some countries where they managed to arrive, they face discrimination or are considered as threats to national security. Refugee Olympian Angelina Nadai Lohalith has the last word: “We hope others see we are just normal people like them.” The Games seek to convince the world community that the refugee problem cannot be wished away by donating dollars but resolved by first recognising it as a human issue.