Former Afghan refugee announced as a High Profile Supporter for UNHCR

About Abbas

Mohammad Abbas Karimi was announced as a High Profile Supporter for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency May 2021.

Abbas Karimi grew up in Afghanistan, where he faced discrimination and bullying not just for his disability, but also his identity. Abbas started kickboxing as a child to protect himself as much as to keep active and channel his emotions. It was not until he jumped into a pool for the first time that he realised swimming was his true calling. At his first ever national swimming competition in Afghanistan, he became a champion.

In 2013, Abbas had to flee from Afghanistan due to persecution against his ethnic group. After a long and arduous journey he arrived in Turkey, where he spent four years as a refugee before being resettled to Portland, USA by UNHCR in 2016. Since then, Abbas has won eight medals, including silver in the Mexico City 2017 World Para Swimming Championships. He now lives and trains in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he’s aiming for a place on the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC) Refugee Paralympic Team. However, Abbas’ ambition goes beyond making the team; Abbas wants a place on the podium, which he believes will bring further hope and inspiration to the millions of displaced people around the world he trains to represent.

Abbas said ” I am on this journey to be a refugee Paralympian and hope to make the Tokyo team. I believe in myself, but nothing I do is for myself. I have made it this far and I will do my best to be a representative for all refugees and displaced  around the world as a supporter of UNHCR.”

I have won eight medals in swimming as refugee para athlete. I believe I have the potential to make the podium at the Paralympics and I believe it is important for all refugees and our legacy that one of us refugee athletes make the podium, it can bring change for refugees and inspire and bring hope.

The world is watching and I am able to represent refugees and all 80 million displaced people across the world.

I am thankful for the support behind me – my family, my coach, my Afghan people, the IPC and UNHCR. They have my back and I don’t feel alone. I am thankful for the support I have”.

In 2017, Abbas travelled to Geneva as part of the Global Youth Advisory Council to speak at the High Commissioner’s Dialogue on Protection Challenges. He wishes to continue to use his sporting prowess as a platform to advocate for the positive impact sport has had on his life as a displaced person with a disability.