Source : ABC NEWS
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has confirmed one of the members of the Iranian women’s football team delegation granted asylum in Australia has asked to be returned to Iran.
He said one of the two who made the decision to stay in Brisbane before the team left to go to Sydney changed their mind, and he was notified shortly after 10am today.
“[They] had spoken to some of the teammates that had left and had changed her mind,” he said.
“In Australia people are able to change their mind. We respect the context in which she had made that decision.“
The woman contacted officials at the Iranian embassy, who collected her from the hotel where she were staying with the other members of the delegation who had decided to stay in Australia.
“As a result of that, it meant that the Iranian embassy now knew the location of where everybody was,” Mr Burke said.
“I immediately gave the instruction for people to be moved, and that is being dealt with.”
He said officials had spoken to the woman who changed her mind to “make sure it was her decision” and that “every question you would want asked was asked”.
“Can I simply say, for every member of this delegation, they have been shown a respect by Australia that would be unfamiliar to them in Iran. They have been shown a country that is willing to say, ‘The choice is yours,'” Mr Burke said in Question Time.
“I think we can all be very proud of the Australian Federal Police and my Home Affairs officials who have all been involved in this to make sure where Australia is a country where they can see there is freedom of choice for women as well.”
The president of Iran’s football federation said Australia pressured members of the women’s soccer team into seeking asylum.
Speaking to state TV, Mehdi Taj, who is aligned with the Iranian regime, said that when the team tried to leave the country, police intervened on the orders of the prime minister.
He expressed concern over men and women being separated at airport security, saying that the women were more vulnerable and had less experience with political pressures.
Seven members granted asylum
There were seven members of the Iranian women’s football team granted asylum in Australia, with the government confirming all but a few members of the delegation were individually offered refuge as they embarked on their journey home.
Mr Burke detailed the final moments of the women’s time in Australia in a media conference, explaining that the players were separated from their minders and spoken to individually as they passed through customs at Sydney International Airport on Tuesday evening.
The plight of the football team, known as the Lionesses, has garnered international attention and input from US President Donald Trump after several players refused to sing the Iranian national anthem before a broadcast match in Australia.
The home affairs minister with the Iranian player and support person who sought asylum on Tuesday. A total of seven members of the delegation have remained in Australia. (Instagram: Tony Burke)
They were labelled “traitors” on Iranian state television in response, sparking concerns for their safety in the Islamic Republic, where corruption or treason is punishable by death sentence.
“Australia’s objective here was not to force people to make a particular decision. We’re not that sort of nation,” Mr Burke told reporters on Wednesday.
“What we wanted to make sure of was that, possibly for the first time, these individuals were meeting a government that said ‘this is up to you and here is the opportunity if you want to take it’.“
The two additional team members had indicated to Australian officials on Tuesday that they wished to take up the offer of protection, at which point the home affairs minister said they were separated from the rest of the group and sequestered to a safe location by Australian police.
Mr Burke then travelled to Brisbane to meet with the pair, armed with the documentation necessary to start the visa process immediately.
“I made them the same offer that I had made the five players the night before, and that was that if they wanted to receive a humanitarian visa for Australia … I had the paperwork ready to execute that immediately,” he said.
“They both said that they did.”
Details of final moments in Australia revealed
The remaining members of the delegation travelled on to Sydney where they were scheduled to depart on an international flight bound for Kuala Lumpur.
At that point, all of the remaining players and “most of the supporting people” were taken individually into meeting rooms and once again offered the chance to stay in Australia, Mr Burke said.
Some of the team members chose to contact family members at this stage, he added, but “ultimately, in Sydney, none of those individuals made the decision to take up the offer from Australia”.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke with the first five members of team to seek asylum. (ABC News: Supplied: Department of Home Affairs)
“What we made sure of was there was no rushing, there was no pressure. Everything was about ensuring the dignity for those individuals to make a choice,” Mr Burke said.
“Obviously, the one pressure we couldn’t take away was the context.”
One member of the delegation was delayed in boarding the flight due to efforts to contact family members overseas and deliberations over whether to depart, the minister said in response to speculation that at least one person did not leave willingly.
“We weren’t sure which way that person would go,” he said.
“That individual ultimately made their own decision.”
The government determined not to offer visas to a “small number” of people travelling with the group.
“There were some people leaving Australia who I am glad they’re no longer in Australia,” Mr Burke said.
He later clarified that the comment was in reference to people travelling with the group who appeared to pressure or discourage the women from accepting the offer to stay in Australia.
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Supporters of the women gathered at the airport on Tuesday night and cheers broke out when word spread that two more members of the group had opted to stay in Australia.
The visas offered to the seven people are valid for 12 months and provide a pathway to permanent residency. The same types of visas have previously been granted to Ukrainians, Palestinians and people from Afghanistan.
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