New to the Parish: Runner’s marathon journey to political asylum in Ireland

Bedilu Gebreselassie shudders as he recalls the 15 days he spent in prison. "Oh my god, I can't explain," the 27-year-old from Ethiopia says, shaking his head as he attempts to describe the cramped conditions of prisoners piled on top of each other in an Addis Ababa jail. Inmates were given a piece of bread and a glass of water to make it through each day. Gebreselassie struggled to find room to sleep on the floor, leaning on his side to fit inside the confined sleeping quarters.

“I was crying, I lost weight, there was no food. After they let me out I had no transportation to get home.”

The sports enthusiast from the city of Hawassa in southern Ethiopia had travelled to the capital to participate in a race with his athletics club but ended up behind bars due to his affiliation with the Sidama Liberation Front political group.

Gebreselassie says he joined the political group to help give a voice to the country’s smaller ethnic groups.

“The Ethiopian government has divided the people. If you come from a small ethnic group no one listens to you. That’s why the organisation was established.

“These people needed freedom, they needed equality, they needed freedom of speech.”

Gebreselassie was aware of the risks of joining a group which vehemently opposed the ruling Ethiopian government. He knew by speaking out he could lose his job and was potentially putting his life at risk.

“If you protest, the government calls you a terrorist. We were just protesting for equality.”

Gebreselassie’s love of running provided him with a temporary release from the political turmoil within his community. As a teenager, he noticed how popular running had become in Ethiopia and by the age of 15 he was hooked. His day revolved around his morning run before he went to school and work.

“I would wake up at about 6am to go running. I’d do one hour of running, then back home to eat something for breakfast. Then I would go to school for four hours, go back home and then I’d go to work. I was working in a hotel. Eight hours of working, four hours in school, more than an hour of running: it was really challenging.”

Stride Ethiopia

Gebreselassie began to run with a local club set up by Stride Ethiopia, an Irish charity. Through the charity's work in Yirgalem, a rural province south of Addis Ababa, Gebreselassie was offered the chance to travel to Ireland in 2011 to train with coaches in Dundrum South Dublin Athletics Club (DSDAC).

As a member of a political group that opposed the Ethiopian government, the young runner was aware of the risks of leaving his home to travel abroad.

“I was already opposing the government and they think you’re going abroad to build something with a terrorist group.”

Gebreselassie, on the other hand, was far more interested in developing his skills as a runner. In Ireland, he stayed in the home of international distance runner Brendan O’Neill in Sandymount and learned how to coach running back home in Ethiopia.

“When I arrived in Ireland everything was new for me. It was summer but even summertime is cold for me. I put two jackets on in the summer.”

After two months, the Ethiopian athlete returned home but soon realised the local authorities were keeping tabs on his movements.

“When I went back they were really focused on me. I knew the situation was bad, it felt very dangerous. Even sometimes when I was out running in the forest they would be there waiting for me. I couldn’t run alone.”

Gebreselassie visited Ireland a second time in 2013 to take part in running tournaments but a few weeks after arriving he was hospitalised with a blood clot in his leg. The young athlete had to undergo surgery in a Dublin hospital and spent six weeks recovering.

“It was very serious, the spasms came right up to my heart. The doctors said it was because of the plane journey, but it’s not only that. Another doctor said it was a parasite.”

Gebreselassie is extremely grateful to the Irish doctors who saved his life. "If I had been in Africa I would have died, so I have to say thank you."

After he was released from hospital the athlete sought political asylum in Ireland, fearing for his safety if he returned to Ethiopia. “If I had gone back I might not even have made it back to my town. They might have thrown me straight into prison. That’s why I stayed here.”

Making the decision to stay in Ireland and not return to his mother in Ethiopia was extremely difficult, he says.

“I love my mum. She is everything to me. She’s my friend. It’s almost two years since I last saw here and it’s very difficult.”

When he told her he would stay in Ireland, Gebreselassie’s mother said she was relieved her son would now be safe.

Refugee status

Gebreselassie spent six months in a direct-provision hostel before he received refugee status. He did an English course and went on to study business and finance at Whitehall College. Now he's hoping to find work.

“I’m looking for anything, I’ll do any kind of work. The problem is everywhere you need experience. I don’t have any experience in Ireland, my experience is from my country.”

Gebreselassie runs every day in Phoenix Park and trains with DSDAC every weekend. He has won a number of track and road races around the country and in July finished in first place in the Clontarf half marathon.

Since moving to Ireland he has learned what real democracy means. “People here can demonstrate in the streets, they have the freedom to speak. That’s real freedom.

“In Africa, if you speak out you’ll lose your job. If you speak you could lose your kids, go to prison, that’s why everybody is silent. Everyone is afraid.”

He looks forward to training as a running coach in Ireland and developing his own athletic skills.

Asked whether he would like to run for Ireland one day, Gebreselassie smiles bashfully and lowers his eyes. “Yes,” he replies. “I would like that.”