London Olympics Are Over So Why Aren’t The African Republic Athletes Leaving?

London Olympics 2012 are officially over. But, athletes and guests especially from the African side of the world are not willing to leave London.

Surely, they are not overly impressed by the hospitality of the Londoners or are they planning to take a flight to Rio from the previous Olympic location? Yes, they are definitely planning but on ways through which they can easily seek political asylum in London.

_{Image From: Reuters}

Olympic flag-bearer for Eritrea, 18-year-old Weynay Ghebresilasie revealed that he just claimed political asylum in London on the closing ceremony to avoid returning home.

Surprisingly, Weynay is not the only one. The group comprises of over a dozen athletes and coaches from countries such as Cameroon, Guinea, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Ivory Coast. All these people ‘disappeared’ from the Olympic village before the closing ceremony took place.

"I still very much love my country and it's the harsh conditions and lack of basic human rights which has compelled me to seek asylum." Weynay said.

He finished 10^th in his first-round heat and could not proceed further. He said he is disillusioned with the deteriorating economic and political condition of his homeland. It is important to mention here that Eritrea was among the top ten countries of origin for people seeking asylum in UK last year, along with Sudan, Afghanistan and Iran.  

According to Home Office spokesman athletes taking part in Games would leave when their accreditation expires and any applications for asylum would be dealt in accordance with immigration procedures.

In addition to this it is not the first time participants have gone missing or have sought asylum. At the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester 20 members of the Sierra Leone team went missing from their camp before the competition ended. Similar reports of asylum surfaced during the Sydney Olympics 2000.