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UN hails announcement of refugee Olympic team

Xinhua, June 3, 2016 Adjust font size:

The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR on Friday welcomed the announcement of refugees competing as a team in the upcoming 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

"The initiative to send a refugee team to the Rio Games is unprecedented and sends a strong message of support and hope for refugees worldwide," UNHCR said in a statement.

The refugee Olympic team includes two Syrian swimmers, two judokas from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and six runners from Ethiopia and South Sudan.

"They all fled violence and persecution in their countries and sought refuge in places as wide-ranging as Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Kenya and Brazil," UNHCR said.

Latest UN figures showed the global population of refugees, internally-displaced people and asylum-seekers reached a record 59.5 million at the end of 2014 and have continued rising since. Enditem