Two more members of the Iranian women’s national football squad have decided to stay in Australia, joining the five other players who had already been granted humanitarian visas.
The decision came as supporters gathered at Sydney Airport on Tuesday night as the team arrived from the Gold Coast, protesting against them returning to Iran. Supporters said some members of the team had made signals for help.
At a press conference on Wednesday morning, Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke confirmed that one Iranian player and one support member took up the offer of humanitarian visas. These visas were processed overnight.
“Last night I travelled to Brisbane and Sydney in case any additional members of the Iranian women’s football team wanted to seek assistance from Australia,” Burke said on X on Wednesday morning.
“Two people, one player and one member of the support team asked to stay in Australia & I signed the paperwork for them to be issued with humanitarian visas, which were processed overnight.”
The remaining Iranian players departed Sydney bound for Kuala Lumpur, on their way back to Iran, on Tuesday evening.
Burke, who was at the airport on Tuesday night, said each of the Iranian players was given the opportunity to speak privately with Home Affairs officials and make their own decision about whether to stay.
“I made them the same offer that I made the five players the night before; if they wanted to receive a humanitarian visa for Australia, which would have a pathway to a permanent visa, I had the paperwork ready to execute that immediately,” he said.
“They both said they did. I signed off on that and asked the department to start processing straight away.”
The team had arrived in Sydney just after 8pm on Tuesday, after leaving the Gold Coast, where they had played their final game of the Women’s Asian Cup.
Concerns about the safety of the women arose after several team members refused to sing the national anthem at their opening game against South Korea. Iranian state media labelled them “traitors”, raising concerns they and their families could face severe punishment if they returned.
The team sang the anthem in their last two games before they were eliminated from the tournament on Sunday.
Earlier on Tuesday, a bus carrying team members was blocked by members of the public as it tried to leave their hotel on the Gold Coast. The protesters were chanting “save our girls”.
Australia’s anti-slavery commissioner James Cockayne has called for an urgent criminal investigation into whether the members of the team and their support staff were being coerced to return to Iran. If it constituted exit trafficking, Cockayne says that the crime is punishable by up to 12 years’ imprisonment.
“The question of whether to prosecute will not be a simple one to answer. But it is not a question we should ignore, or simply hope, disappears when officials board a flight out of Australia,” Cockayne wrote.