Meet the 10 Athletes Who Will Compete on the First-Ever Refugee Olympic Team

Jun 7, 2016 Source: foreignpolicy.com

Editor's comment: New emotional campaign by the UN: let the "refugees" have their own Olympic team.

The world is in the midst of its worst refugee crisis in decades, with more than 60 million people displaced from their homes worldwide. Many of them happen to be standout athletes — and 10 will now compete in the upcoming 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil.

On Friday, the International Olympics Committee announced the first all-refugee Olympics team in its history, which was narrowed down from a long list of 43 athletes to 10. Two come from Syria, where more than 400,000 people have been killed in a bloody civil war since 2011. Five come from South Sudan, where decades of fighting preceded the country’s most recent conflict, which has killed more than 50,000 since late 2013. Two ran from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where large-scale violence has killed millions since the early 1990s. And one, fearing his life, fled from Ethiopia, although he has not publicly explained what prompted his departure.

“These refugees have no home, no team, no flag, no national anthem,” IOC president Thomas Bach said. “We will offer them a home in the Olympic Village together with all the athletes of the world. The Olympic anthem will be played in their honor and the Olympic flag will lead them into the stadium.”

Syria

Rami Anis, swimmer currently hosted by Belgium.