Women's Representation In The Paris 2024 Olympic Refugee Team Is Just Symbolic, Not Reflecting Gender Equality

The Refugee Olympic Team appeared at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics on the cinema River, July 26. (Instagram/@refugeeolympicteam)

JAKARTA Hope for women's representation in the Refugee Team or the Refugee Olympic Team has increased without the 2024 Paris Olympics. In fact, the number of refugees around the world is dominated by women. Michelle totaling that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) does not fulfill their commitment to gender equality.

Women's representation in the Refugee Olympic Team has continued to decline since this team first appeared in Rio 2016. In the first edition, as many as two female athletes appeared out of a total of six athletes in the refugee team. Then at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the refugee team had 19 athletes, 10 of whom were women or 52 percent.

This year there are only 13 female athletes or as many as 38 percent of the total 37 athletes who will represent the 2024 Paris Refugee Olympic Team. In fact, with the increasing number of refugees every year, women's representation in the Olympic Refugee Team is expected to also increase.

According to the Women for Women International charity, female refugees are not only facing poverty and other problems common to all refugees, but also having to get a layer of oppression due to gender discrimination.

They, most of the women in the refugee camps choose to work as unpaid household workers, whether it's raising children, caring for older relatives, or cooking, Rachel Williams said, policy manager and community affairs at the Women's in Sport charity.

"We know how important visibility is, especially for girls who are involved in sports and inspiration that girls can get by looking at these women superior in sports," added Williams.

The number of refugees has tripled in the past decade. According to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees or UNHCR, there were 43.4 million refugees worldwide at the end of last year. More than half of the refugees are women and girls.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) stressed that the 2024 Paris Olympics will be the first gender equality event in history. But the reality on the ground is not as expected.

Manizha Talash, a 21-year-old woman from Afghanistan who has fled in Spain, will appear in the breakdance sport. She became one of the female migrants who had an inspiring story.

However, the presence of Manizha Talash and 12 other women in the 2024 Paris Refugee Olympic Team is considered insufficient to represent gender equality, an issue that continues to be fought for in various aspects of life.

The figure of 38 percent of female athletes in the team is not the only decline in the Refugee Team, because the Refugee Paralympic Team also only has 13 percent of female athletes.

Professor of the Department of Sports Management at Brock University, Michele Badminton, said, "The IOC does not fulfill their commitment to gender equality".

"In my opinion, this is more symbolic than the actual representation of global problems," he added.

Although Women in Sport prefers to see the optimistic side and agrees that nearly 40 percent of the women's Refugee Olympic Team members, Donelly expressed different opinions. According to him, women's representation of less than 40 percent is not enough to represent gender equality.

"The places where the IOC has full control, they should be role models for everyone's expectations, so the team should have gender equality," Donelly said.

The formation of the Refugee Olympic Team cannot be separated from the United Nations General Assembly (UN) in 2015, which at that time responded to the issue of the global refugee crisis. At that time there were millions of people in the world displaced.

IOC President Thomas Bach then announced the formation of the Refugee Olympic Team in March 2016. The team was formed as a symbol of hope for all refugees in the world to raise global awareness of the scale of the migrant crisis in Europe.

"With the spirit of Olympic solidarity and with the greatest honor, let's welcome the Refugee Olympic Team. Refugee athletes, you send a message of hope to millions of refugees around the world," Bach said.

You have to run away from your country because of violence, hunger, or just because you are different. In the realm of the Olympics, we not only tolerate diversity, but we also welcome you as enrichment to our unity and diversity," Bach added.

Refugee Teammelakoni debuted at the 2016 Rio Olympics. A total of 10 athletes from Syria, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo appeared at the opening ceremony under the Olympic Flag, just before their host Brazil's appearance. They performed in three sports, namely athletics, judo, and swimming.

The Refugee Olympic Team again appeared in Tokyo 2020, but with the change of state code from IOC to EOR which stands for French, Equipe Olympique des Refugies. The number of refugee athletes involved in Tokyo increased to 29 athletes involved, spread across 12 sports.

The Olympic Refugee team is funded by Olympic Solidarity, which financially supports National Olympic Competents around the world. It was the National Olympic Committee that identified refugee athletes living in their country and funded them during training, preparation, and participation in competitions.

However, neither the 2016 Rio or Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the Pengugsi Team did not get a single medal. However, this is understandable given the status and difficult conditions they face. From the start, the big goal of forming the Refugee Team was not a medal collection.

Muna Dahouk, a Syrian refugee who now lives in the Netherlands, said she wanted to use her platform as a refugee athlete to break the stereotypes and challenges regarding evaporation.

Dahouk fled Syria in 2019. Arriving in the Netherlands, he said that participating in the judo competition was the last thing he thought about. He then qualified for the Tokyo Olympics.

I will represent refugees around the world, to show the public what refugees can do. We are not a weak person," Dahouk said, citing CBS News.

"We can be athletes, we can be students, we can be whatever we want," he continued.