The Olympics shows how migration makes us all stronger

The Olympics shows how migration makes us all stronger

The Olympics and Paralympics bring together some of the best talent from around the world. It is not just the diversity of athletes coming together to compete which makes the games so spectacular though, it is the diversity within teams. 

For Team GB, we have athletes born all around the world coming together to represent Great Britain at the largest sporting event in the world. They will have millions of people rooting for them to win Gold as they compete. Win or lose we see solidarity with those taking part, a recognition that they have put their all into it. When a member of Team GB stands on that podium no-one cares where they were born. We are just proud of what they have achieved. 

Sports are one of the purest examples of how immigration and diversity creates better teams. People bringing different skills, knowledge, and abilities together to form something stronger. We cheer on individual athletes, but we also cheer the whole team. We celebrate the highs, and we grieve the lows with them. We get invested, not because of their birthplace, but because we are all together in that moment. 

The same feelings of unity are what unite communities. Migrants bring with us so much. Just as in sports, we are the people who you care about, the people you see every day. We may not be winning medals in Paris, but we are here with you, and helping to create a more diverse, stronger, country. 

That may not be through exceptional acts of sporting prowess. It can be just in the everyday lives we all lead. You don’t need to be exceptional to make a difference, you just need to exist. 

Working with IMIX and Show Racism the Red Card, Migrant Voice’s “Migration Making Britain Great” project is all about how the diversity we see in sport can equally be used to strengthen all of us. When people are cheering athletes at the Olympics they are not looking at where they were born, but instead who and what they represent. 

We, as migrants, are part of communities, we are your friends and family, co-workers, and neighbours. We are the people you buy your groceries off, and who treat you when you are sick. We live and work with you. We aren’t looking for celebration, just to be treated with dignity and respect. To be valued as people.  

We will be right there with you watching the Olympics, watching the best athletes from around the world compete against each other. We will be celebrating the highs and lows just like you, because just like you, we all bring something to the countries we live in.