Sir Mo Farah reveals he was trafficked to the UK as a child
British Olympic star Mo Farah has revealed in a BBC documentary that he was brought to the UK illegally as a child and forced to work as a domestic servant.
He told the BBC his real name is Hussein Abdi Kahin and he was given the name Mohamed Farah by those who flew him over from Djibouti.
At just nine years old, Mo was flown over from the east African country by a woman he had never met and then was made to look after another family’s children.
“For years I just kept blocking it out,” he said.
“But you can only block it out for so long.”
“For years I just kept blocking it out,”
Farah had previously said he came to the UK from Somalia with his parents as a refugee. But in a documentary by the BBC and Red Bull Studios, airing on Wednesday, he says his parents have never been to the UK – his mother and two brothers live on their family farm in Somaliland.
Mo’s dad was killed by stray gunfire when he was just four years old, in civil violence in Somalia.
Somaliland declared independence in 1991 but is not internationally recognised.
Sir Mo was about eight or nine years old when he was taken from his home to stay with family in Djibouti. He was then flown to the UK by a woman he had never met and wasn’t related to.
The woman told Mo she was taking him to Europe to live with relatives there – and the youngster was “excited” about it because “I’d never been on a plane before,” he says.
When they arrived in the UK, Mo was taken to a flat in Hounslow, west London and took the piece of paper with his relatives’ contact detail on it and ripped it up. She had fake travel documents with her that showed his photo next to the name “Mohamed Farah” – and he was instructed to say his name was Mohamed.
“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.
“At that moment, I knew I was in trouble
He was made to do housework and look after the children “if I wanted food in my mouth”, Farah says. The woman told him: “If you ever want to see your family again, don’t say anything.”
“Often I would just lock myself in the bathroom and cry,” he says.
He was not allowed to attend school for the first few years in the UK, but when he was around 12 he enrolled in Year 7 at Feltham Community College.
Staff were told he was a refugee from Somalia.
His old form tutor Sarah Rennie told the BBC he came to school “unkempt and uncared for”, he spoke little English and was an “emotionally and culturally alienated” child.
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But Mo’s PE teacher, Alan Watkinson, said he noticed a transformation in young Mo when he hit the athletics track.
“The only language he seemed to understand was the language of PE and sport,” he says.
Sir Mo says sport was a lifeline for him as “the only thing I could do to get away from this [living situation] was to get out and run”.
He eventually confided in Mr Watkinson about his true identity, his background, and the family he was being forced to work for.
Mo Farah – ‘the real Mo’
The PE teacher contacted social services and it was arranged for Mo to be fostered by another Somali family.
“I still missed my real family, but from that moment everything got better,” Sir Mo says.
“I felt like a lot of stuff was lifted off my shoulders, and I felt like me. That’s when Mo came out – the real Mo.”
By 14, Mo had started making a name for himself as an athlete and was invited to compete for English schools at a race in Latvia – but he didn’t have any travel documents.
Mr Watkinson helped a young Mo apply for British citizenship, which was granted in July 2000.
In the documentary, barrister Allan Briddock tells Mo his nationality was technically obtained by fraud, and whilst the government can remove a person’s British nationality, Mo’s case is very unlikely.
The Home Office has since confirmed no action will be taken against Mo Farah following the revelations.
“Basically, the definition of trafficking is transportation for exploitative purposes,” he tells Sir Mo.
“In your case, you were obliged as a very small child yourself to look after small children and to be a domestic servant. And then you told the relevant authorities, ‘that is not my name. All of those combine to lessen the risk that the Home Office will take away your nationality.”
‘Changing perceptions of trafficking and slavery’
Sir Mo is telling his story because he wants to challenge the public perceptions of trafficking and slavery.
“I had no idea there was so many people who are going through exactly the same thing that I did. It just shows how lucky I was,” he says.
“What really saved me, what made me different, was that I could run.”
The woman who brought Mo to London was approached by the BBC for comment but did not respond.
Sir Mo Farah’s revelation – the reaction
Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi – who was forced to flee Iraq when he was 11, said hearing Mo’s story was “heartbreaking and painful.”
He told BBC Breakfast: “I salute Mo Farah. What an amazing human being, to have gone through that trauma in childhood, to come through it and be such a great role model. It’s truly inspirational.”
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The Real Mo Farah premieres on BBC One at 21:00 BTS.
