Sir Mo Farah’s courage praised by GLAA CEO

The Chief Executive of the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) has praised Olympic star Sir Mo Farah for his strength and courage in speaking out about how he was illegally trafficked into the UK and forced into domestic servitude.

Elysia McCaffrey said that his decision to share his story was “unbelievably brave and courageous” and was crucial in further raising public awareness of the issue of modern slavery and human trafficking.

In a new BBC documentary, The Real Mo Farah, to be broadcast on Wednesday July 13, the four-time Olympic champion reveals that he was given the name Mohamed Farah by those who flew him over from Djibouti when he was just aged nine.

His real name is Hussein Abdi Kahin.

Once in the UK, he was forced to look after another family’s children while he himself was only a child.

Farah previously said that he came to the UK from Somalia with his parents as a refugee.

However, his parents have never been to the UK. His mother and two brothers live on a family farm in Somaliland.

GLAA CEO Elysia McCaffrey said: “Sir Mo has shown such unbelievable bravery and courage in sharing his harrowing story. The pain he has endured having been trafficked into this country and forced to work in servitude is something that is hard for us to comprehend.

“Unfortunately, there are thousands of people just like Sir Mo who are exploited and trafficked every single year. We are committed to working with our partners to root out these evil practices and to ensure that everyone in the UK understands their rights and where to go to seek help.

“By speaking out so powerfully, we hope that this will raise awareness of these abhorrent crimes and the desperate situations completely innocent adults and children can find themselves in through no fault of their own.

“No one anywhere in the world deserves to be a victim of slavery or trafficking and if you have any information about someone being exploited for their labour, please get in touch with us.

If you have information about anyone being trafficked for the purposes of labour exploitation, please call the GLAA’s intelligence team on 0800 4320804 or email intelligence@gla.gov.uk.

Alternatively, call the Modern Slavery and Exploitation Helpline on 08000 121 700 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.