Mo Farah Reveals His Truth; He Was Trafficked Into UK As a Child
Four-time British Olympic champion, Mo Farah, has revealed that he was trafficked to the United Kingdom when he was nine years old.
He also said that his father died in a Somalia civil war when he was four and that he was separated from his mother.
He said he was a Somalian christened Hussein Abdi Kahin, and that he took the identity of another child called Mohamed Farah to travel to Europe.
The 39-year-old phenomenal athlete, Farah, disclosed these in a latest documentary ‘The Real Mo Farah’ published by Metro.
Farah gave a shocking revelation and horrifying childhood experience in the chronicle, stating that the family he stayed with treated him like a slave.
“The truth is I’m not who you think I am. Most people know me as Mo Farah, but it’s not my name or it’s not the reality,” Farah began.
“The real story is I was born in Somaliland, north of Somalia, as Hussein Abdi Kahin. Despite what I’ve said in the past, my parents never lived in the UK.
“When I was four my dad was killed in the civil war, as a family we were torn apart.
“I was separated from my mother, and I was brought into the UK illegally under the name of another child called Mohamed Farah.”
During the documentary, he visited his childhood home in Hounslow, but the place held difficult memories for him.
The Olympian said he thought he was going to Europe to live with relatives and went through a passport check at the age of nine under the name Mohamed.
“I had all the contact details for my relative and once we got to her house, the lady took it off me and right in front of me ripped them up and put it in the bin and at that moment I knew I was in trouble,” he recalled.
“If I wanted food in my mouth my job was to look after those kids, shower them, cook for them, clean for them, and she said, ‘If you ever want to see your family again, don’t say anything. If you say anything, they will take you away.’
“So she told you don’t talk about anything otherwise I was in big trouble and I guess for me the only things that I could do, in my control to run away from this was get out and run,” he said.
Eventually, Farah confided in his Physical Education teacher, Alan Watkinson, and he moved in with his friend’s mum Kinsi, whom he said “took great care” of him.
It was Watkinson who applied for Farah’s British citizenship and he received his citizenship on July 25, 2000, when he was 17.
Farah went on to become the first British track and field athlete to win four Olympic gold medals.
He said his children have motivated him to be truthful about his past.
Farah said: “Family means everything to me and you know, as a parent, you always teach your kids to be honest, but I feel like I’ve always had that private thing where I could never be me and tell what’s really happened.
“I’ve been keeping it for so long, it’s been difficult because you don’t want to face it and often my kids ask questions, “Dad, how come this?” And you’ve always got an answer for everything, but you haven’t got an answer for that.
“That’s the main reason in telling my story because I want to feel normal and… don’t feel like you’re holding on to something.”
Farah’s wife, Tania said in the year leading up to their 2010 wedding she realised “there was lots of missing pieces to his story” but she eventually “wore him down with the questioning” and he told the truth.
Farah went on: “I often think about the other Mohamed Farah, the boy whose place I took on that plane and I really hope he’s OK.
“Wherever he is, I carry his name and that could cause problems now for me and my family.
“The important thing is for me to just be able to look this is what’s happened and just being honest, really.”
