(Bloomberg) — Australia has granted asylum to two more members of Iran’s women’s soccer team — bringing the total to seven — after the duo sought protection shortly before the delegation was due to depart.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said he had been informed that a sixth player and one member of support staff wanted to accept Australia’s offer to remain in the country.
With the help of the Australian Federal Police, the pair were separated from the rest of the group and taken to a safe location near Brisbane Airport, where the minister met them.
“I made them the same offer I made the five players the night before,” Burke told reporters in Canberra. “If they wanted to get a humanitarian visa to Australia that would have a pathway to a permanent visa, I had the paperwork ready to do it immediately.”
Burke said they both accepted the offer. “I signed it and asked the department to start processing it immediately.
Iran’s soccer team ended its Women’s Asian Cup campaign with a 2-0 defeat to the Philippines on Sunday, leaving players facing uncertainty about returning to Iran amid an escalating conflict in their homeland. Iran’s state television branded them traitors after they remained silent during the national anthem before their opening loss to South Korea on March 2.
Burke detailed the steps taken to ensure that Iranians could make decisions without outside pressure. When the entire delegation later went through customs and immigration, each player and support staff member was interviewed individually, without carers present, along with immigration officials and an interpreter.
Burke said authorities made sure there was “no rush” and that individuals had the opportunity to contact family members before making their decisions. He described an effort to help at least one individual speak with relatives overseas before boarding a return flight.
“There was no pressure to even get on the plane,” he said, adding that everyone ultimately made their own decisions.
The minister said he was blunt that although permanent residence brings rights that can be extended to family members, these provisions only become relevant if the relatives are allowed to leave Iran.
“Even Australian citizens who are currently in Iran, we have no way of getting them out,” he added. Burke declined to elaborate on specific claims of persecution, saying those details were not directly discussed.
Iran said the team could return home “with calm and confidence,” the semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported, citing a statement from the attorney general’s office. He added that the players acted “unintentionally” under the emotional influence of what he described as a “hostile conspiracy”.
Australia’s decision to grant asylum to seven members of the delegation comes after it agreed to send a surveillance plane and missiles to the Middle East to help defend against Iranian attacks.
US-Israeli bombing of Iran and counterstrikes by the Islamic Republic have reverberated around the world since late February, snarling energy supplies and blocking air travel. Iran has targeted Israel and the Gulf states, widening a conflict that has drawn over a dozen nations into the fray.
–With the help of Aradhana Aravindan.
(Full transcript with details from the Home Secretary.)
More such stories are available at bloomberg.com
