Sudanese Lost Boy Will Run for Gold with Team USA

by Jason Dzubow

A dozen years ago it seemed impossible that Lopez Lomong would be running as a member of the United States Olympic team.  In 2000, he was 15 years old and living in Kenya.  Most of his life had been spent in refugee camps.

Lopez Lomong: Living the Dream.

Mr. Lomong grew up in rural Sudan, without running water or electricity.  When he was still a boy, rebel soldiers kidnapped him and other children, intending to turn them into soldiers.  The rebels drove the children to their camp in a truck–it was the first time Mr. Lomong had ridden in a vehicle.  He escaped from the camp with other boys and ultimately arrived in Kenya, where border guards sent them to a refugee camp.

Life in the camp was difficult–there was not enough food and nothing to do.  Mr. Lomong began running as a form of escape: “When I ran, I was in control of my life,” he writes. “I ran for me.”  He got into the habit of running the perimeter of the camp–18 miles–in bare feet.

In 2000, he walked five miles with some friends to watch the Olympics on a small black and white television.  Inspired by American runner Michael Johnson, his dream was born: To run in the Olympics for the United States of America.

In 2001, the U.S. brought 3,800 “lost boys” to the United States for resettlement.  Among them was Lopez Lomong.  In the U.S., he continued running–it was something familiar to him in his new country.

In 2007, Mr. Lomong became a United States citizen.  “Now I’m not just one of the ‘Lost Boys,'” he told reporters. “I’m an American.”  He went to Beijing with the U.S. Olympic team in 2008, but he did not qualify for the final round due to an injury.

Since he has been in the U.S., Mr. Lomong wrote a book about his experience, Running for My Life, and established a foundation to help people in his native South Sudan.

Now, he is again competing with Team USA.  (As a side note, more than 40 athletes on our national team are foreign-born.)

This time around, Mr. Lomong has a chance for gold.  He has qualified for the finals of the men’s 5,000 meter race, which is scheduled for tomorrow.  Hopefully, we’ll see him on the podium.  It would be another remarkable achievement in an extraordinary life.

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Olympic Athlete Seeks Asylum Prior to Opening Ceremony

by Jason Dzubow

The torch has not yet been lit, but the first Olympic athlete has already requested asylum in Great Britain.  CBS News reports that a Sudanese runner scheduled to compete in the 800-meter race has appeared at a police station in Leeds and asked for political asylum. 

If Omar Al Bashir is your “president,” you better be able to run fast.

It is not surprising that a Sudanese man would seek asylum–his country is run by an indicted war criminal, Omar Al Bashir, who is responsible for many thousands of deaths.  As the games continue, it will be interesting to see how many more Sudanese (and athletes from other countries) seek protection in Great Britain.  The New York Times has listed several noteworthy instances of athletes seeking asylum at previous Games:

In August 1948, London was the scene of one of the earliest reported asylum requests by someone associated with the Olympic Games. Marie Provaznikova, 57, the leader of the Czechoslovakian women’s gymnastics team and one of the most popular women in her country, sought asylum in the United States rather than support a purge in the Sokol national fitness organization, of which she was a leader.

At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, an Iraqi weight lifter, Raed Ahmed, ran from the athletes’ village into a waiting car and sought asylum from Saddam Hussein’s government. He was allowed to stay in the United States after he cited a fear of execution upon his return. Persistent rumors from Iraq suggested that Mr. Hussein’s son Uday used beatings and other torture to punish those who did not perform to his liking at international sporting events.

Before the 2008 Olympics, seven members of the Cuban soccer team sought asylum after a qualifying game against the United States in Florida. At the time, one of them, Yenier Bermudez, told The Miami Herald that the players were “feeling hopeful about our new lives.”

The entire Eritrean national soccer team fled during a 2009 competition in Kenya. Only a coach and an official emerged from the team’s plane when it returned home. It was the third time that players had failed to return, soccer officials said. Eritrean athletes are now asked to pay a bond before leaving the country for sporting events, the BBC reported.

Frankly, I think it is wonderful when high-profile athletes defect from repressive regimes.  It serves as a visible repudiation of those regimes and perhaps provides some succor to the regimes’ opponents. 

While one athlete defecting from Sudan will probably not bring down the government, it does serve as a powerful reminder that the government of that country represses and murders its own people.  And sometimes the actions of one person capture the moment and cause great change.  Witness Mohamed Bouazizi, the fruit vendor whose suicide launched the Arab Spring.  I do not know whether the Sudanese athlete’s defection will have any larger effect on his country, but we can always hope.

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Episcopalian Bishop from Sudan Receives U.S. Asylum

by Jason Dzubow

A Sudanese Bishop who spoke out against atrocities committed by the government of Sudan has received asylum in the United States.  The Legal Times reports that Bishop Andudu Adam Elnail of South Kordofan, a province of Sudan that borders the new country of South Sudan came to the United States for medical treatment in May 2011.  Conflict broke out in his home region shortly thereafter, and he filed for political asylum.

Martyrs of Sudan by Awer Bul, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan.

Bishop Elnail stated, “friends, brothers and sisters, children, my flock, have been killed mercilessly [by the government of Sudan] and are lying now in mass graves in Kadugli.”  According to one of his lawyers, the Bishop’s home was destroyed and looted, his office was destroyed and looted, and his church was destroyed and looted.  Based on his (very) well-founded fear of persecution in Sudan, the Bishop received asylum in the United States.

Now that he is safely in the U.S., Bishop Elnail plans to continue his advocacy for the people of Sudan.  In a written statement, he says, “Asylum is the way for me to advocate for the people of South Kordofan.”  “I can do more for my people here than if I was in Sudan.”  It’s hard to argue with this sentiment, since it seems pretty clear that if he returned to Sudan, the government–which has repeatedly demonstrated its utter disregard for human life–would make sure that he kept quiet.  Permanently.

The case was litigated by Covington & Burling attorneys Arjun Singh Sethi and Gerald Masoudi.  Mazel tov to them for their success in this important case.

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