New Zealand’s government is considering asylum for Iranian women footballers in Australia, who risk persecution upon returning home.
According to reports, Queensland police are protecting five players who escaped their team handlers at Gold Coast accommodation.
Players Fatemeh Pasandideh, Zahra Ghanbari, Zahra Sarbali, Atefeh Ramazanzadeh, and Mona Hamoudi refused to sing Iran’s national anthem before their Women’s Asian Cup opener against South Korea this month.
Fears of targeting by the Iranian regime upon the players’ return have intensified after Iranian state TV branded them “traitors.”
US President Donald Trump has called on Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to grant asylum to the entire team.
“Australia is making a terrible humanitarian mistake by allowing the Iran National Women’s Soccer team to be forced back to Iran, where they will most likely be killed. Don’t do it, Mr Prime Minister, give ASYLUM. The U.S. will take them if you won’t,” Trump said in his social media post.
Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour was also questioned on whether Australia should grant the players asylum or whether New Zealand should step in.
Seymour said Australia must decide based on its laws, and it wouldn’t help for “their cousins across the ditch” to offer lobbying advice.
Seymour, however, framed it as a humanitarian issue.
“Any sort-of layperson would sit there and say, ‘Do they have a well-founded fear of persecution if they return to their home country?’ I think the common-sense answer is that they do.”
“Would a country like Australia, or New Zealand for that matter, want to help people in that situation? I think the answer is we would, so let’s let the Australian government work through that question according to law as they have to.”
“But I think any person looking at it would come to a pretty obvious answer in their heart and mind.”
“Perhaps the New Zealand government will do something like that today.”
A report now confirms visas in Australia for five members of Iran’s visiting women’s football team.
Immigration Minister Tony Burke stated Australian police had relocated the women to a safe site, adding that other squad members are welcome to remain in the country.