WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Two more members of the Iranian women’s soccer team were granted asylum in Australia before their teammates departed, the country’s Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said Wednesday.
The pair has been reunited with five players who were granted humanitarian visas a day earlier, Burke told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday. One of those in the later group was a player and the other a team staffer, Burke said, and both sought
asylum before their teammates were transported to the airport.
The rest of the team’s departure from Sydney, Australia to return to Iran late Tuesday local time happened during fraught and outraged protest at the team’s hotel and at the airport, where Iranian Australians sought to prevent the women from leaving the country, citing fears for their safety in Iran.
Their flight departed late Tuesday.
Burke said that as the women passed through security at Australia’s border, they were each taken aside individually by Australian officials and interpreters, without minders present, and were made offers of asylum.
“They were given a choice,” he said. “In that situation what we made sure of was that there was no rushing, there was no pressure.”
Those who have sought asylum received temporary humanitarian visas, which have a pathway to permanent residency in Australia, Burke said.
The Iranian team arrived in Australia for the Women’s Asian Cup last month, before the Iran war began on Feb. 28. The team was knocked out of the tournament over the weekend and faced the prospect of returning to a country under bombardment.
