For the first time, refugee athletes will be allowed to compete in the Olympics. In a time when tensions in Europe rise with the influx of more and more refugees, this is a warm signal. International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach announced this week that at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro games, refugees will be welcomed with the Olympic flag and the Olympic anthem. Bach said the Olympic values of peace, solidarity and tolerance ask for a change of rules, allowing athletes without a national team to compete. The IOC also created a 2 million dollar fund to “bring hope through sport to refugees”, and has called on the member states to help identify high-level refugee athletes that could compete in the games.