Olympian Lopez Lomong calls for refugee crisis help
Olympian Lopez Lomong has called for the U.S. to help refugees fleeing from Syria after last week’s terrorist attacks in Paris.
“My name is Lopez Lomong, once upon a time I was a refugee now representing my adopted nation with pride,” Lomong wrote on Facebook. “Thanks to my parents who bent backward to give me a chance. Please let’s unite together like before to give another refugee a chance and a place in our beautiful country. Go USA!”
Lomong was one of the Lost Boys of Sudan and arrived in the United States at the age of 16, before becoming an American citizen in 2007. Lomong was the U.S. flag bearer at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing before he competed in the men’s 1,500-meter run.
129 people were killed in several coordinated terrorist attacks throughout Paris on Friday night. France’s match with Germany at the Stade de France was targeted, as explosions took place outside the stadium. Since the attacks in Paris, several American states have closed their borders to Syrian refugees. About 26 governors said they would bar refugees as potential security threats.
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Tennis player Novak Djokovic has also pleaded to aid Syrian refugees.
“From my perspective, I’m only an athlete, but I’m following this as a human being,” Djokovic said at the ATP World Tour Finals press conference. “And we all have to be humans and feel for one another. We have to put that in front of laws and borders and different political stuff.”
- Christopher Chavez
