Three more members of the Iranian women’s football squad have left Australia, leaving behind teammates who sought asylum after playing in the Women’s Asian Cup.
The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, said on Sunday morning the trio had decided to join the rest of the team in Iran, after being issued special protection visas to stay in Australia.
The decision means just three of the seven squad members who had sought asylum will remain.
The team were labeled “wartime traitors” after players refused to sing the country’s national anthem before a match at the tournament. Their plight attracted international attention and even calls for support from the US president, Donald Trump, last week, amid the escalating Middle East war.
Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email
“After telling Australian officials they had made this decision the players were given repeated chances to talk about their options,” Burke said in a statement.
“While the Australian government can ensure that opportunities are provided and communicated, we cannot remove the context in which the players are making these incredibly difficult decisions.”
Burke said the Australian government had done everything possible to make sure the women were provided with the chance for a safe future in Australia.
On Monday there was a tense standoff at the team hotel on the Gold Coast in Queensland, where anti-Iranian regime protesters gathered as the players prepared to board a bus taking them to the airport for their return flight to Iran.
There were chaotic scenes at the Royal Pines hotel as government minders rushed into the lobby looking for the women understood to be seeking protection in Australia.
Protesters try to block bus as Iranian women’s football team depart Gold Coast hotel – video
One player changed her mind on Wednesday, and contacted Iranian embassy officials. Others returned home with team officials via flights to Malaysia, and are still believed to be in Kuala Lumpur awaiting their return to Iran.
“Australians should be proud that it was in our country that these women experienced a nation presenting them with genuine choices and interacted with authorities seeking to help them,” Burke said.
At the same time as facilitating asylum requests for the players, the government rushed through new laws to stop some temporary visa holders coming to Australia and seeking to stay permanently because of the Middle East war.
The new laws can be used to prevent Iranian tourists from travelling to Australia if their visa was issued before the US and Israel attacked Tehran, and where there is a concern they might overstay their visa or apply for protection while in Australia.
The federal government has offered strong support for the US and Israeli-led bombings in Iran, and is providing military assistance to the United Arab Emirates as part of efforts to defend against retaliatory strikes launched by the regime in Tehran.
With Agence France-Presse