During the 2012 London Olympics, one athlete from South Sudan had to compete as an independent as the National Olympic Committee for South Sudan was not yet established. “This will be a symbol of hope for all the refugees in the world, and it will make the world better aware of the magnitude of this crisis”.
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Until now, Bach said, qualified refugee athletes were not able to participate because they couldn’t represent their home country by way of its national Olympic committee.
This means refugee athletes have a unique situation because they technically have no national team.
More than 1,000 delegates from 206 nations will be in the USA capital this week for meetings and the ANOC Awards Ceremony to honour athletes and National Olympic Committees.
The resolution, entitled “Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal”, was formally submitted to the General Assembly on behalf of the Olympic Movement and Brazil by the Organising Committee of the Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro 2016, led by its President, Carlos Nuzman.
“At the same time, we are assisting high-level refugee athletes to continue their sports careers”, he said”. “This fundamental principle of nondiscrimination allows sport to promote peace and understanding among all people”. “The Olympic Games are the time when the values of tolerance, solidarity and peace are brought to life”, Bach said according to the Guardian.
Hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled conflict-torn or repressive countries like Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Eritrea for Europe for more than a year.
The official Olympic Truce resolution was decided in Lillehammer for the 1994 Winter Games.
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Nafsika Nancy Eva Vraila, deputy permanent representative of Greece to the United Nations, said the concept of the Olympic truce began 2,800 years ago in Ancient Greece.
