TheCable

Sir Mo Farrah, a British-Somali athlete, has condemned Donald Trump’s decision to ban Muslims from seven countries from travelling to the US.

Farah described the new policy by the US President as “ignorant and prejudiced”.

He said he’d have to tell his kids that he might not be able to come home from his training camp in Ethiopia.

Farah was born in Somalia but has lived in Portland for the past six years.

The four-time British Olympic gold medalist is training at high altitude in Ethiopia, in preparation for the World Athletics Champions in August in London.

Although he’s not planning to return to the US for a number of weeks, his trip back to Portland is in jeopardy because of the executive order signed by Trump barring citizens of Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Syria, Somalia, Libya, and Yemen from entering the US for the next 90 days.

Farah, 33, took to his Facebook page to make known his feelings.

He wrote: “On 1 January this year, Her Majesty the Queen made me a knight of the Realm. On 27 January, President Donald Trump seems to have made me an alien.

“I am a British citizen who has lived in America for the past six years – working hard, contributing to society, paying my taxes and bringing up our four children in the place they now call home.

“Now, me and many others like me are being told that we may not be welcome.

“It’s deeply troubling that I will have to tell my children that Daddy might not be able to come home – to explain why the President has introduced a policy that comes from a place of ignorance and prejudice.”

The executive order also applies to those who hold dual nationality with any of the listed countries.

Farah was born in Somalia before moving to the UK at the age of eight and becoming a British citizen, which makes him a victim of Trump’s policy.

“I was welcomed into Britain from Somalia at eight years old and given the chance to succeed and realise my dreams.

“I have been proud to represent my country, win medals for the British people and receive the greatest honour of a knighthood.

“My story is an example of what can happen when you follow polices of compassion and understanding, not hate and isolation,” Farah wrote.