A GROUP of Eritrean-born athletes who aspire to represent Scotland at the Commonwealth Games face a minefield of bureaucracy almost as fraught and intimidating as that which left one of their number maimed and his brother and grandfather dead.
On Sunday, Tewoldeberhan Mengisteab proudly wore a Scottish vest, first of seven Eritreans granted political asylum after the 2008 World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh to do so.
Selected on residence grounds, he finished eighth in the Abbey Dash 10k in Leeds. He hopes it is a first step to representing Scotland in Glasgow 2014, but there are many barriers. Application for British citizenship begins tomorrow, followed by acquiring a UK passport. Then nationality change must be ratified by the International Association of Athletics Federations.
The UK Borders Agency confirm that applications may take six months or longer, due to compliance with statutory requirements. They aim to resolve 95% of cases (costing applicants nearly £1000) within the six months. Processing a first UK Passport (required by Commonwealth Games Scotland) takes at least six weeks.
UK Athletics must obtain clearance from the IAAF on scottishathletics' behalf (a rubber-stamp exercise), but won't do so until the athlete is fully eligible. The Eritreans have been resident for more than five years, and have long since been granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK. It's now simply a matter of process.
Scottishathletics did not need IAAF permission to select Mengisteab last weekend. At that level, three years' residence suffices.
It is true their recent form has suffered from demotivation, but this still leaves one wondering why it took a further two years for Scotland to pick the first of the Eritreans? It can't help that the UKA's supposedly definitive Power of Ten website almost ignores their existence. Mengisteab is equal 13th in Britain this year, but is not included in their rankings, and all Eritrean performances prior to their arrival in Britain are missing despite significant international careers.
In the autumn of 2007, shortly before his arrival in Edinburgh, Mengisteab ran 62.36 for the half marathon; the only Scot ever to have run faster was London Marathon winner Allister Hutton. But of Mengisteab, not a mention.
Five Eritreans won Scottish titles with Shettleston. These also included Tsegai Tewelde, 19th in the Junior World Cross Country race in Edinburgh. They all sought asylum because they feared returning to a land where they had been brutalised and threatened with conscription and taken from teachers at the point of a gun. Aged eight, former goat-herd Tewelde was blown up by a landmine which killed a childhood friend. His grandfather and nine-year-old brother also became landmine fatalities.
Just 17 and still carrying shrapnel and metal in his body, Tewelde was fifth in the 1500m at the 2006 World Junior Championships in Beijing with 3:42.10, a time faster than any Scot of his age since 1994. No mention of that on Power of Ten either. The Kenyan winner in China has now run 3:32 and the second-placed Moroccan (aged 20 at the time) became World Indoor champion and won Olympic bronze last year (best time 3:31).
Tewelde became the first overseas winner of the Scottish 4km cross country title in 2009, with two other Eritreans in the Shettleston quartet which claimed the team title.
It is hard to avoid the conclusion that Scotland has missed an opportunity in developing the Eritrean resource. It may now be too late, given demotivation exacerbated because protracted failure to acknowledge Scotland eligibility blocked their right to prize money, brutal for men on minimum wages.
Shettleston stand commended, but the wider athletics community has been less proactive. In contrast, UKA have fast-tracked foreign nationals, and Abeba Aregawi, fifth in the Olympic 1500m final last year wearing Ethiopian colours, won European indoor gold for Sweden in March. Mengisteab and Tewelde are rejuvenated in their training by the former's selection. Let us hope it is not too late for the others.
Scottishathletics have helped leading athletes axed from UK Sport Lottery support. When they are as yet ineligible for 2014, and short of the qualifying standards, it would be unreasonable to suggest they should now bankroll the Eritreans. But like many refugees, they have had a shabby deal thus far. Some appropriate initiative must be found.
A scottishathletics spokesman acknowledged differing criteria for 2013 and the Leeds race, with the Commonwealth Games Federation determining entry criteria. "We work closely with our partners, Commonwealth Games Scotland, to confirm eligibility of athletes who express a desire to represent Scotland. We welcome any such applications towards Glasgow 2014 assuming they meet all other selection policy specifics."
The Scottish Refugee Council believe permanent refugee status should be reintroduced as a matter of urgency, and that the barriers refugees face, and complexity and expense of process, contribute to uncertainty, and worse. Mental health issues are common.
Athletics has the ability, even a moral duty, to help. The governing body must do more.
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