Welcoming World’s First Refugee Olympic Team

IOC has created a team of 10 refugee-athletes in an effort to raise awareness about the refugee crisis.

In the face of unprecedented global displacement as a result of war, despotism, and poverty, the famously apolitical International Olympic Committee (IOC) has made a pleasantly surprising political statement.

According to a Foreign Policy report, it has created a team of 10 refugee-athletes from Syria, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Ethiopia who will compete not just for individual Olympic glory, but for the dignity of the world’s 65.3 million displaced people. Their very presence in Rio is a call for peace in war-torn nations and acceptance of refugees elsewhere in the world.

Watch the amazing story of Rio’s all-refugee Olympic team here.

This will be a symbol of hope for all the refugees in our world and will make the world better aware of the magnitude of this crisis. It is also a signal to the international community that refugees are our fellow human beings and are an enrichment to society.

Thomas Bach, IOC President

Yiech Pur Biel, slated to compete in the 800-meter track and field event at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, has taken to calling himself a refugee ambassador and is more than happy to be the face of that message. He will lead the parade of athletes at the opening ceremony in Rio, where his team will march under the Olympic banner, since they have no flag of their own.

Most of the refugees, they are looking upon us. They are saying, ‘You are on a team that represents us.’ Even if we will not manage to get gold, at least we can do something to show the world we can make it in life.

Yiech Pur Biel told Foreign Policy.