Sir Mo Farah has revealed he was brought to the UK illegally as a child and forced to work as a domestic servant. The Olympic champion told the BBC he was given the name Mohamed Farah by those who flew him from Djibouti; his real name is Hussein Abdi Kahin.
Farah was flown from the East African country at age nine by a woman he had never met, then made to care for another family's children. He said: 'For years I just kept blocking it out.' The long-distance runner had previously said he came to the UK from Somalia with his parents as a refugee.
In a documentary by the BBC and Red Bull Studios, Farah says his parents have never been to the UK. His mother and two brothers live on their family farm in Somaliland. His father, Abdi, was killed by stray gunfire when Farah was four. Farah says he was taken from home to stay with family in Djibouti, then flown to the UK by an unknown woman who told him his name was Mohamed and used fake travel documents.
Upon arrival in Hounslow, west London, the woman ripped up his relatives' contact details. Farah says he had to do housework and childcare for food, and was told: 'If you ever want to see your family again, don't say anything.' He often locked himself in the bathroom and cried. He was not allowed to attend school regularly until about age 11, when he enrolled at Feltham Community College.
His PE teacher, Alan Watkinson, noticed a transformation when Farah ran. Farah confided in Watkinson about his true identity and forced labour. Watkinson contacted social services, and Farah was fostered by another Somali family. He later applied for British citizenship under the name Mohamed Farah, granted in July 2000. A barrister told Farah his nationality was technically obtained by fraud, but the Home Office said it would not take action as a child is not complicit.
