Mo Farah country of citizenship United Kingdom
Early life and education
Hussein Abdi Kahin (Somali: Xuseen Cabdi Kaahin) was born on 23 March 1983 in Somaliland (then fully integrated within Somalia). His father died in the civil war when he was aged four, and he then became separated from his mother. He spent a few years in Mogadishu as a child. At the age of nine he was illegally trafficked to the United Kingdom via Djibouti, when he was given the name Mohammed Farah and was forced to work as a domestic servant. He was flown from the country by a woman he had never met, and made to look after another family's children. He obtained British citizenship in July 2000 under the name Mohamed Farah. These aspects of his background were not made public until July 2022, and a barrister told him that there was a risk that he might lose his British nationality as it was obtained by misrepresentations; the Home Office, however, assured him that he would not face any repercussions.For the first years he was in Britain, he was not allowed to go to school, but when he was 11 or 12 he began to attend Year 7 at Feltham Community College, where staff were told he was a refugee from Somalia. His athletic talent was first identified by physical education teacher Alan Watkinson. Farah's ambition was to become a car mechanic or play as a right winger for Arsenal football club.
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