Sir Mo Farah's story highlights child trafficking issues
By Gemma Raw
Photo: Mo Farah via https://www.instagram.com/gomofarah
The Olympian's courageous decision to share his personal experience of being trafficked to the UK as a child has thrown a spotlight on a growing problem.
Sir Mo Farah was about eight or nine years old when he was taken from his home in Somalia to stay with family in the neighbouring country of Djibouti. He was then flown to the UK with a woman he had never met and who was not a relation of his.
Sir Mo had been trafficked. Having been told to say his name was Mohamed, rather than using his real name, Hussein Abdi Kahin, he was forced to do housework and childcare in return for food. "If you want to see your family again, don't say anything," the woman warned him.
At around the age of 12, Sir Mo was enrolled in Feltham Community College, where he was judged to be 'emotionally and culturally alienated', although he already showed great promise as a track runner. It wasn't until he confided in his PE teacher about his true identity that he finally came to the attention of social workers. He was fostered by another Somali family and successfully applied for British citizenship under his assumed name.
What has been the reaction?
Sir Mo has been widely praised for sharing his story and highlighting the horrors of child trafficking. Chancellor of the Exchequer Nadhim Zahawi, who was forced to flee Iraq as an 11-year-old, described him as 'truly inspirational'. Lisa Nandy, Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, said that his decision to speak out about trafficking could be a 'gamechanger'.
Responding to Sir Mo's story, leading charity ECPAT UK took the opportunity to highlight the plight of other child trafficking victims: "Sir Mo was appropriately safeguarded from abuse once he was referred to his local authority, but many child victims of trafficking are not, and do not receive the care, support and protection to which they are entitled."
What are the challenges for social workers?
In 2018, the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) published a snapshot report on child trafficking in the UK. They concluded that much more had to be done to support those working in social care jobs, including reforms to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) for identifying and supporting victims. They also expressed concerns that training of frontline social workers across the UK was underfunded and deprioritised.
In December 2021, another review of child trafficking in the UK was carried out by Dame Sara Thornton, Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, in association with ECPAT UK. This report highlighted a number of important policy developments, including progress in devolving NRM decisions for children and the rollout of the Independent Child Trafficking Guardians Service, which is now available in two thirds of local authorities across England and Wales.
However, the report makes clear that there is still a lot of work to be done. "Together, we have identified ten practical recommendations to direct efforts," writes Dame Sara Thornton in her Foreword. "I look forward to working alongside ECPAT UK over the next year to encourage the implementation of these recommendations."
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