TAOISEACH SIMON HARRIS has said that the Olympic Games in Paris gives the world an opportunity to celebrate the importance of migration.
Speaking this morning ahead of the start of events, Harris told The Journal: “Sport – in a time of division, conflict and changes to social cohesion – can be very, very unifying.”
Migration and asylum has been a continuing trend that has been celebrated at the Olympic Games this year. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) agreed in 2021 that a team for people displaced from their home country would continue at the games.
The IOC’s refugee team is this year made up of 37 athletes from different backgrounds, living in 15 countries and competing in 12 different sports. The common trend among the group: they have been forcibly displaced from their home.
Cameroonian Cindy Ngamba, who sought refuge in the United Kingdom at the age of 11 with her family, and Syrian Yahya Al-Ghotany, who fled his home after war broke out in the country to Jordan, yesterday carried the flag for the team.
Both athletes, who compete in boxing and Taekwondo, respectively, said their goal was to represent the more than 100 million displaced people around the world during their performance at this year’s Olympics.
This year, the IOC also awarded it’s third Olympic Laurel to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi. The award is given to those who have “made significant achievements in education, culture, development and peace through sport”.
Grandi was awarded the distinction for his “unwavering belief in the power of sport to improve the lives of the far too many refugees around the world and the IOC’s work in this field”.
When accepting the award, Grandi dedicated it to his team at the United Nations and the millions who have been displaced around the world.
“The Refugee Olympic Team is a symbol of hope and inspiration for refugees everywhere. These athletes show what can be achieved when their talent is recognised and developed, and when they are given opportunities to train and compete alongside the best”, said Grandi.
Speaking today, Harris said while it’s up to Governments to uphold the rules around migration, the Olympics gives everyone the opportunity to reflect that those rules impact all types of people.
“[W]e’re talking about human beings. People. Incredible people who, just like Irish people, have been welcomed right across the world,” he said.
“I think there’s an understanding of that in Ireland. I’ve never bought into this idea that Ireland is a nasty country. Irish people are extremely fair, extremely compassionate. They do also want to see common sense,” Harris added.
While, according to the Taoiseach, Irish people want to see a “system that’s working”, the public also are “inclusive, decent, tolerant people”.
“We saw the Garda Commissioner talk about it this week. Those extremist elements who wish to whip up violence and damage social cohesion is not reflective of our country – it’s far from it. And we can see that when they contest elections,” he added.
Additional reporting by Sinéad O’Carroll in Paris.
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