Olympics Refugee Team takes on Paris; local organization cheering them on

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — The 2024 Summer Olympics officially started Friday and hundreds of athletes from all over the world are representing their countries on the world stage. However, not every athlete can represent their country because they have had to flee from their homes.

There are 37 athletes competing at the Olympics on a refugee team .

Joanna Krause, executive director of Canopy of Northwest Arkansas, says a refugee is someone who was forced to leave their homes due to violence, war or persecution.

“A refugee is something that happens to you. It’s not who you are,” Krause said.

The team was created in 2015 and competed in the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics and Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics according to Olympics.com .

Krause and Mahdi Faizy, case management supervisors at Canopy of Northwest Arkansas, a nonprofit that helps refugees, are excited to cheer them on.

“The Olympics is a time to demonstrate people coming together from different countries,” Faizy said.

Some of the countries being represented are Cameroon, Iran, and Afghanistan.

Faizy says due to the political circumstances in Afghanistan, there hasn’t been proper representation at the Olympic level.

“So having a team of Afghan refugees representing the nation at the Olympics in Paris is a big win for the nation and for the refugees generally. And I believe it represents not only nations but also individuals who have been away from their home and their homeland to indicate their perseverance, to show the challenges which they have gone through to get to international stage and levels,” Faizy said.

Faizy was forced to leave his home in Afghanistan in August 2021 and come to the United States.

“When the political climate changed and the government fell after the withdrawal of American forces. It’s been three years that I have stayed in the U.S. as a refugee,” Faizy said.

He says refugees being able to represent on an international stage is important because it shows their skills but also the challenges that refugees go through.

“And highlighting and focusing on the issue that so many people have been displaced from their homeland,” Faizy said.

Krause says the Olympics are an inspiration for everyone.

“These are also folks with tremendous perseverance and resilience, and we’re going to see that at the Olympics in the coming weeks,” Krause said.

Krause says the Olympics Refugee Team recognizes the talent of people who have been forced to flee their homes.

“Here at Canopy, I get the opportunity to see that every day. But here is an example to see it on the world stage. I can’t wait to cheer on these athletes,” Krause said.

If you would like to help refugees in the NWA community, Krause says to reach out to them through their website .

“We have tons of opportunities to volunteer, to donate to help someone rebuild their home, rebuild their lives,” Krause said.

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