Political refugees
Tachlowini Gabriyesos, Eritrean born long distance runner smiles prior the half marathon race in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, April 23, 2023. Gabriyesos fled his native Eritrea and walked through the desert to reach Israel when he was just 12 years old. He is now running marathons, sending a message of hope and endurance to all refugees like himself. On Sunday, he ran a half-marathon race at the Belgrade Marathon as part of a U.N. refugee agency team at the event. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Tachlowini Gabriyesos runs for refugees at Belgrade Marathon

By Jovana Gec Apr. 23, 2023 12:59 PM EDT

FILE - Kimia Yousofi, front left, and Farzad Mansouri, of Afghanistan, carry their country's flag during the opening ceremony in the Olympic Stadium at the 2020 Summer Olympics on July 23, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. Afghanistan's flag bearer at the Tokyo 2020 Games and other prominent women's sports campaigners have been safely relocated to Australia following a year-long Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) project. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)
Afghan Olympians resettle in Australia to start afresh

Aug. 17, 2022 01:11 AM EDT

FILE - Track and field runner Allyson Felix arrives at the ESPY Awards, July 20, 2022, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. American sprint great Allyson Felix and a refugee cyclist originally from Afghanistan have joined the International Olympic Committee’s athletes' commission, it was announced Wednesday, July 27, 2022. Felix is a seven-time Olympic champion. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, file)
US sprint great Allyson Felix joins IOC athletes' commission

Jul. 27, 2022 10:39 AM EDT

FILE - Somon Makhmadbekov, of Tajikistan, left, and Ahmad Alikaj, of the Refugee Olympic Team, compete during their men's 73kg elimination round of the judo match, at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, Monday, July 26, 2021. The Olympic Refugee Foundation and the refugee Olympics team are the winners of this year’s Princess of Asturias Award for sports, the Spanish foundation that organizes the prizes said Wednesday, May 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian, File)
Refugee Olympic team awarded prestigious Spanish prize

May. 25, 2022 08:21 AM EDT

Boxer Thomas Essomba poses for a portrait after training at Steel City Gym in Sheffield, England, Thursday, Aug. 4, 2021. Cameroonian boxer Thomas Essomba, was one of seven people who defected at London 2012. Nine years on, he talks to AP about what it’s been like to live with that decision. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
9 years on, Cameroon Olympic boxer talks of defection to UK

By Sylvia Hui And Tristan Werkmeister Aug. 06, 2021 02:23 AM EDT

FILE In this file photo taken on Friday, July 9, 2021, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, left, presents the national flag to the captain of Belarus National Olympic team Ivan Tikhon ahead of the Summer Olympics Games in Tokyo, Minsk, Belarus. Lukashenko, who has a keen interest in sports and served as the head of the Belarus National Olympic Committee for nearly a quarter-century before handing over the post to his older son in February, has sternly warned the country's Olympic athletes that they better show high performance. (Maxim Guchek/BelTA Pool Photo via AP, File)
EXPLAINER: What is behind Belarus athlete's Olympics crisis?

By Yuras Karmanau And Vladimir Isachenkov Aug. 04, 2021 03:47 AM EDT

The refugee team carry the Olympic flag during the opening ceremony in the Olympic Stadium at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 23, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (Dylan Martinez/Pool Photo via AP)
IOC to adapt refugee athletes program to counter criticism

By Graham Dunbar Jul. 27, 2021 05:38 AM EDT

Iran's Nahid Kiyani, front, attacks Kimia Alizadeh, of the Refugee Olympic Team, during the women's 57kg match at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 25, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
EXPLAINER: How team of refugee athletes made it to Olympics

By James Ellingworth Jul. 25, 2021 03:17 AM EDT

Kimia Alizadeh Zonoozi, Refugee Olympic Team, right, is attacked by Britain's Jade Jones during the taekwondo women's 57kg match at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 25, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Iranian taekwondoka barely misses refugee team's 1st medal

By Greg Beacham Jul. 24, 2021 11:57 PM EDT

Romain Cannone of France, left, and Gergely Siklosi of Hungary compete in the men's individual final Epee competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 25, 2021, in Chiba, Japan. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Olympics Latest: Rashitov wins taekwondo gold at Tokyo Games

Jul. 24, 2021 08:59 PM EDT

FILE - In this Aug. 18, 2016 file photo, Kimia Alizadeh Zenoorin of Iran celebrates after winning the bronze medal in a women's Taekwondo 57-kg competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The defector from Iran who left citing institutional sexism will face the Iranian in the opening bout of their taekwondo class at the Tokyo Olympics. The draw Thursday, July 22, 2021, for the women’s 57-kilogram class placed Kimia Alizadeh of the refugee team against Nahid Kiyani Chandeh of Iran. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)
Refugee defector from Iran to face Iranian at Tokyo Olympics

Jul. 22, 2021 08:14 AM EDT

Syrian refugee Ibrahim al-Hussein, an amputee swimmer who lost his leg during the war in Syria, swims during a training at the Olympic Aquatic Centre, in Athens, on Wednesday , June 30, 2021. Ibrahim al-Hussein will be part of a Refugee Paralympic Team for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games as the International Paralympic Committee announce Wednesday. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Syrian refugee swimmer makes his mark at the Paralympics

By Theodora Tongas And James Ellingworth Jul. 14, 2021 07:12 AM EDT

People walk near the Olympic Rings Wednesday, June 2, 2021, in Tokyo. Roads are being closed off around Tokyo Olympic venues including the new $1.4 billion National Stadium where the opening ceremony is set for July 23. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Refugee team of 29 athletes picked for Tokyo Olympics

By Graham Dunbar Jun. 08, 2021 07:58 AM EDT

In this Wednesday, April 1, 2020, photo, Rohingya refugee Sagir Ahmed, 33, stands at the Kutupalong refugee camp, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. "People have been waiting in queues for aid for a whole week. They will definitely get sick in this situation. The relief work isn't being done here. So, people are going to die anyway from diseases," he said. Aid workers are bracing for a possible outbreak of the coronavirus in one of the world's largest refugee camps in Bangladesh, but officials are already warning that containing the disease among more than 1 million tightly packed Rohingya Muslims will be a daunting task. (AP Photo/Suzauddin Rubel)
Crowded in camps, Rohingya refugees vulnerable to virus

By Julhas Alam Apr. 02, 2020 09:26 PM EDT