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Olympic honor for refugees: Rio flame stops at UN camp

Syrian refugee Ibrahim Al-Hussein, 27, center, freestyle swimmer, basketball player and former judo wrestler receives the Olympic flame from the head of Greece's Olympic Committee, Spyros Capralos, at the Elaionas camp that is home to about 1,500 refugees and other migrants, in Athens on Tuesday, April 26, 2016. The flame arrives in Brazil on May 3, and will be relayed across the vast country by about 12,000 torchbearers before the Aug. 5 opening ceremony in Rio de Janeiro's Maracana Stadium. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Syrian refugee Ibrahim Al-Hussein, 27, center, freestyle swimmer, basketball player and former judo wrestler receives the Olympic flame from the head of Greece's Olympic Committee, Spyros Capralos, at the Elaionas camp that is home to about 1,500 refugees and other migrants, in Athens on Tuesday, April 26, 2016. The flame arrives in Brazil on May 3, and will be relayed across the vast country by about 12,000 torchbearers before the Aug. 5 opening ceremony in Rio de Janeiro's Maracana Stadium. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) Syrian refugee Ibrahim Al-Hussein, 27, center, freestyle swimmer, basketball player and former judo wrestler receives the Olympic flame from the head of Greece's Olympic Committee, Spyros Capralos, at the Elaionas camp that is home to about 1,500 refugees and other migrants, in Athens on Tuesday, April 26, 2016. The flame arrives in Brazil on May 3, and will be relayed across the vast country by about 12,000 torchbearers before the Aug. 5 opening ceremony in Rio de Janeiro's Maracana Stadium. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

By Associated Press 3 min read

ATHENS, Greece (AP) – If they had a home, refugees would belong to the world’s 24th most populous nation, just behind Italy. On Tuesday, there were honored as members of the Olympic family.

The Olympic flame, on a 106-day journey from the game’s ancient birthplace in southern Greece to Rio de Janeiro, made a symbolic stop at a United Nations-run refugee camp in Athens. The torch was carried by Syrian refugee Ibrahim Al-Hussein.

The 27-year-old ran with a prosthetic limb fitted below his right knee, and said he was thrilled to get the invitation.

“This is such an honor for me. This is for every Syrian and ever Arab who has gone through so much,” Al-Hussein said afterward, following chaotic scenes at the camp as he was surrounded by cameramen and refugees using smartphones to take photos and selfies.

“My message to them is not just to stay in refugee camps and to do nothing, but to go after their dream.”