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During the 2016 Olympic Games the International Olympic Committee allowed a collective team of refugees to compete as a way of highlighting the global crises of displaced people. There will not be a similar team for this year's Winter Games.
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In an email, a spokesperson for the International Olympic Committee confirmed to Mashable that there would not be a team made up of people who fled their home countries because of conflict or persecution competing in Pyeongchang, South Korea, under the Olympic flag. 。

Instead, the Olympic Committee has launched a new foundation to support refugees called Refugee Athlete Support.。

"Building on the experience of the Olympic Games Rio 2016 and the participation for the first time of the Refugee Olympic Team, it was decided to create a dedicated program that would provide National Olympic Committees with the opportunity to identify and support a small number of refugee athletes living in their countries to prepare and participate in international competitions," the spokesperson wrote.。

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SEE ALSO:Why Lena Headey is campaigning to support refugee families in Europe 。

According to UNHCR, the U.N. Refugee Agency, the forced displacement of people around the world is currently at its highest level in decades. More than 65 million people are forcibly displaced globally, including 22.5 million refugees -- half of whom are children.。

While it opted for a different path for these Olympic Games, the IOC is not counting out the possibility of including a future refugee team at this point.。

SEE ALSO:Refugee mother shares family's journey to the U.S. in powerful animated video 。 SEE ALSO:Refugee mother shares family's journey to the U.S. in powerful animated video。

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