Mo Farah: “In London from illegal to 9 years. Forced to work as a servant”

A shocking revelation, a confession that left the whole world of athletics speechless, and beyond. Mo Farah, an Olympian of 5,000 and 10,000, did not arrive in the United Kingdom from Somalia with his parents as a refugee, as he had always said, but illegally from Djibouti, forced to work as a servant when he was only 9 years old. It was the champion himself who revealed it to the BBC, adding that he was given the name of Mohamed Farah by the people who transferred him from Djibouti. His real name is Hussein Abdi Kahin.

The middle distance runner said he was flown from the East African country by a woman he had never met and then forced to take care of the children of another family. In a BBC and Red Bull Studios documentary he stated that his parents had never been to the UK. Mother and two brothers live on their family farm in Somalia and his father, Abdi, was killed.

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The athlete said he was about eight or nine when he was taken away from home to be with his family in Djibouti. He was then flown to the UK by a woman he had never met and was unrelated to, who told him that he would be taken to Europe to live there with relatives. The woman had fake travel documents with her that showed her photo next to the name Mohamed Farah.

When they arrived in the UK, Farah said, she took him to his flat in Hounslow, West London, and took a piece of paper with her relatives’ contact details. “Right in front of me, he tore it up and put it in the bin. At that moment I knew I was in trouble,” explained the Olympic champion. Since then he has been forced to do housework, with the woman threatening him: “If you ever want to see your family again, don’t say anything.” A few years later, Farah revealed to his physical education teacher, Alan Watkinson, his true identity, told him about his past and the family he was forced to work for. The man contacted social services, helping the future champion to be placed in the care of another Somali family.