女性初のパラ難民選手、東京大会出場は「名誉」　女性障害者の模範目指す

【東京ＡＦＰ＝時事】女性初のパラリンピック難民選手、アリア・イッサ（２０）は２３日、東京大会への出場は「名誉」だと述べ、障害のある女性たちにスポーツをしようと呼び掛けた。（写真は東京都内で記者会見に臨むパラリンピック難民選手団のアリア・イッサ）
　陸上こん棒投げのイッサは、２４日の開会式でアフガニスタン出身の競泳男子のアッバス・カリミと共に、６人からなる難民選手団の旗手を務める。
　家族はシリア出身。ギリシャで生まれたイッサは、４歳の時に天然痘を患い、神経系に損傷を受けた。現在は車いすを使い、発語に一部障害がある。
　イッサは記者会見で「障害がある女性たちに家にこもらず毎日スポーツに挑戦し、外の世界に行くよう伝えたい。私はその最初の模範になりたい」と語った。
　「人生の中でパラリンピックに出場できるなんて、しかも、東京パラリンピック大会で女性初の難民選手になるなんて思いもしなかった。大きな名誉です」
　パラリンピックに難民選手団が出場するのは、２０１６年のリオデジャネイロ大会に次いで今大会で２回目。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/08/24-11:30）

The first female member of the Paralympic refugee team said Monday it was an honour to be at the Tokyo Games, urging other women with disabilities to get involved in sport.
Alia Issa will be one of two flagbearers for the six-person refugee team at Tuesday's opening ceremony for the Paralympics, which were delayed a year by the pandemic.
The 20-year-old, who was born in Greece and whose family are from Syria, will compete in the club throw event in Tokyo -- and she hopes others will follow her lead.
I want to say to other women who have disabilities not to stay at home, try everyday with sports, to be outside in the world. I hope I'm the first example to follow, she said at a press conference.
I never believed I would be in the Paralympic Games once in my life, and that I would be the first woman refugee in Paralympic Games here in Tokyo. It's a big honour for me.
When she was four, Issa caught smallpox, which damaged her nervous system. She now uses a wheelchair and has some difficulty speaking.
She started para sports three years ago, and has been training in club throw for the past two years.
She will carry the flag for the refugee team on Tuesday with swimmer Abbas Karimi, who grew up in Afghanistan.
It is just the second time a refugee team has competed in the Paralympics, after Rio in 2016.
On Tuesday, the team's chef de mission Ileana Rodriguez said the six Paralympians represent 82 million people who are displaced around the world and want to send a message of hope.
We're very grateful for the countries that home refugees and we encourage countries that can support refugees to do it, Rodriguez said.
We hope that that's a strong message that we can leave to the people of Japan as well.
Japan, the world's third largest economy, granted refugee status to 47 people in 2020, a little over one percent of asylum requests received that year, according to official data.
Rodriguez added that our hearts go to all the people in Afghanistan.
Afghans trying to flee the Taliban have overwhelmed the US-led military operation at Kabul airport, leading to tragic scenes in which at least seven people have died.