The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has confirmed the six athletes who will represent the Refugee Paralympic Team (RPT) at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
The athletes, one woman and five men, will compete in Para athletics, Para swimming, Para canoe and Para taekwondo.
The team represents the more than 82 million people around the world who have been forced to flee war, persecution, and human rights abuses, 12 million of whom live with a disability. The Chef de Mission for the team is Ileana Rodriguez, a refugee from Cuba who competed in the London 2012 Paralympic Games in swimming for the USA.
UNHCR, the IPC and the RPT athletes are calling for a world in which all displaced people – with or without disabilities – can equally access sport and a commitment to an inclusive and equal world for all. RPT athlete Abbas Karimi, who was a member of UNHCR’s Global Youth Advisory Council and who has recently been named a UNHCR High Profile Supporter epitomizes this commitment as a passionate advocate for disabled refugees’ access to and inclusion in sport – at all levels.
The RPT was announced via a video by stars from the worlds of music, sport, literature, stage and screen who champion the refugee cause. They included Goodwill Ambassadors and high profile supporters from UNHCR, the UN Refuge Agency. The athletes on the Refugee Paralympic Team for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games are:
Ibrahim Al Hussein, Syrian refugee living in Athens, Greece, Para swimming, Alia Issa, Syrian refugee living in Athens, Greece, Para athletics (club throw), Parfait Hakizimana, Burundian refugee living in the Mahama Refugee Camp, Rwanda, Para taekwondo, Abbas Karimi, Afghan refugee living in Fort Lauderdale, USA, Para swimming, Anas Al Khalifa, Syrian refugee living in Halle, Germany, Para canoe, Asmir Begović, who was forced to flee his home in Bosnia and Herzegovina at a young age, first arriving in Germany, Shahrad Nasajpour, Iranian refugee living in Phoenix, USA, Para athletics (discus)
Canada footballer Alphonso Davies, himself a refugee originally from Liberia and recently announced as a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador.
The RPT Tokyo 2020 will compete under the IPC flag, and will be the first Team to enter the Japan National Stadium during the opening ceremony.
