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12th July 2022
08:02am BST
Credit: BBC - The Real Mo Farah[/caption]
When they arrived in Britain, Mo says the woman took him to her flat in Hounslow, west London, and took a piece of paper off him that had his so-called relatives' contact details.
"Right in front of me, she ripped it up and put it in the bin. At that moment, I knew I was in trouble," he says, ultimately being made to do housework and childcare "if [he] wanted food in [his] mouth", the woman adding: "If you ever want to see your family again, don't say anything."
"For years I just kept blocking it out," the Team GB athlete says, "but you can only block it out for so long", confessing that he would regularly lock himself in the bathroom and cry.
Reacting to the news, many online have declared that his origins, real identity and means of arriving in the country are of little consequence to them - he is a national hero all the same:
https://twitter.com/Baddiel/status/1546638280581603328?s=20&t=xK3efMjaivWcTt5vtxOnfA
Moreover, others have quickly pointed out that Farah - a.k.a. Hussein Abdi Kahin - would have simply been deported under the UK government's current Rwanda scheme, which ships those fleeing famine and war-torn territories thousands of miles away.
As many were quick to note, his sporting achievements, reputation and legacy mean will now mean he enjoys a level of protection, but sadly most refugees and asylum seekers will not be afforded the same exception to the rule.
https://twitter.com/nazirafzal/status/1546605771701485578?s=20&t=xK3efMjaivWcTt5vtxOnfA
Journalist Pippa Crerar confirmed that the Home Office has already clarified it will not be taken any action against the Olympian even despite his confession.
People are now calling out the British government over its hypocrisy and cruelty, noting that if Farah were like any other migrant arriving in the country, he would have been deported under the new resettlement programme; or, alternatively, were he to have been smuggled into the UK now, he would have had his opportunity to become a British Olympic hero snatched away.
https://twitter.com/cussans2/status/1546631450895826946?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1546631450895826946%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcms.joe.co.uk%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost-new.php
https://twitter.com/danielgoyal/status/1546628862871851009?s=20&t=xK3efMjaivWcTt5vtxOnfA
You can watch The Real Mo Farah on BBC One at 21:00 BST or on BBC iPlayer at 06:00 GMT on Wednesday, July 13, and find out more about his early life and journey to become a sporting hero.
You can see the trailer for the full documentary here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzXNe-QX8k4
