Olympic hero: Mo Farah, the ex-refugee

August 5, 2012 at 5:45 am (africa, Champagne Charlie, good people, immigration, sport)

From the Telegraph:

Mo Farah makes history as first British man to take gold in Olympic 10000m

It will be a picture to live with British athletics for ever and a day. Mo Farah, open-mouthed, eyes bigger than saucers, banging himself on the head with both hands four times, unable to believe that he had just put the golden crown on the most fantastic day in his country’s Olympic history.

Above: Mo Farah waited until the very last lap to take the lead Photo: PA

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Here’s what we at Shiraz wrote about Mo and his  background after a previous fine victory (July 2010):

Mo Farah’s stunning victory in the European Championship 10,000 metres, his good-humoured sportsmanship and his loyalty to his friend Chris Thompson, should serve to remind us of just what a wonderful contribution refugees have made to this country. Mo came here in 1993 as a nine-year-old refugee from the war-torn hell-hole that was (and is) Mogadishu. Evidently he loves his adopted country, but that doesn’t mean he’s forgotten his roots. On Tuesday night, someone in the Barcelona crowd threw him a Somaliland flag. Somaliland broke away from Somalia in 1991 and is under threat from the fundamentalist thugs of the Islamic Courts Union.

According to the Graun, Mo would seem to be sympathetic to Somaliland and commented, “It’s part of Somalia now trying to be recognised as a republic. They’ve just got a new government. I was chucked the flag and I thought: ‘Yeah, OK.’”

(Below: from Wikipedia)

Somaliland regionally known as Jamhuuriyadda Soomaaliland جمهورية أرض الصومال Jumhūrīyat Arḍ aṣ-Ṣūmāl Republic of Somaliland
Flag National Emblem
Motto: لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله (Arabic) Lā ilāhā illā-llāhu; muhammadun rasūlu-llāhi (transliteration) “There is no god but God; Muhammad is the Messenger of God”And also:”Justice, Peace, Freedom, Democracy and Success for All”
Anthem: Sama ku waar
Capital		Hargeisa 9°33′N 44°03′E / 9.55°N 44.05°E / 9.55; 44.05
Official language(s)		Somali, Arabic, English[1]
Government		Constitutionalpresidentialrepublic
–	President	Ahmed M. Mahamoud Silanyo
–	Vice-President	Abdirahman Saylici
Independence		from the United Kingdom & Somalia
–	Establishment	1884
–	Independence	26 June 1960
–	Union with Italian Somaliland as Somalia	1 July 1960
–	Withdrawal from Somalia	18 May 1991
Area
–	Total	137,600 km2 68,000 sq mi
Population
–	2008 estimate	3,500,000
–	Density	25/km2 51/sq mi
Currency		Somaliland shilling1 (SLSH)
Time zone		EAT (UTC+3)
–	Summer (DST)	not observed (UTC+3)
Date formats		d/m/yy (AD)
Drives on the		right
Internet TLD		none
Calling code		252
1. Currency only valid for regional purposes. Rankings may not be available because of its unrecognised de facto state.

Mo may well be asking himself why this outpost of democracy and peace in the region remains unrecognised by the international community, including Britain. You can find out more and join the campaign for recognition of Somaliland here.

Mo’s official site is here