Awareness
Help us to stop Team GB hopeful from facing persecution in Ethiopia
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Sign this petition, which we will put before the Immigration Judge presiding over Seyfu’s appeal.
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This is urgent. The Home Office accept that Seyfu is a victim of human trafficking. On top of this, Ethiopia have just declared a state of emergency. Yet, Seyfu currently faces being sent back to Ethiopia where his community experiences political turmoil and persecution.
Seyfu’s journey to the UK was a sad and traumatic one, experiencing the horrors of trafficking and torture, he finally arrived in the UK aged just 17.
Alone and without his family or a support network, Seyfu was referred by the British Red Cross to a mental health charity that specialises in working with young people who have traumatic pasts or are affected by homelessness. Once he was with The Running Charity, Seyfu quickly became one of the charity’s most committed and popular runners. The peer support and community he found enabled him to build a foundation, improve his mental health and pursue the one thing that makes him feel free, running.
In June 2019, Seyfu won the London Landmarks Half Marathon, with a course record 01:08:14. He is now ranked 26th fastest male U20 runner and is a regular top 10 finisher in the national Parkrun times. His ambition is to run and represent Team GB. Seyfu is more than just a talented runner and has found a legitimate home within the running community in the UK. It is no exaggeration to say his membership of the running community has become critical to his mental well being. Members of our community would be extremely concerned were Seyfu to be removed from his de facto family.
Despite these incredible strides forward Seyfu has been living under huge uncertainty and recently his asylum application was rejected by the Home Office. He is currently appealing this decision, submitting that it is not safe for him to return home.
Seyfu needs your help! We are asking you to sign this petition, which we will put before the Immigration Judge presiding over his appeal. Help us say unanimously that the running community is behind Seyfu, that he is an important part of a supportive community and an inspiration to every one of us that run to improve our own mental health and life.
