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Key events11m agoVictorian plan to see homebuyers given free pest and building reports14m agoVehicle belonging to missing tourists found17m agoEarthquake felt near Boorowa18m agoNSW anti-slavery commissioner questions handling of Iranian football squad's departure18m agoWelcome Police at Sydney airport on Tuesday night, monitoring protests as the Iranian women’s football team left Australia. Photograph: Sarah Wilson/AAPView image in fullscreenPolice at Sydney airport on Tuesday night, monitoring protests as the Iranian women’s football team left Australia. Photograph: Sarah Wilson/AAPShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureFrom 18m ago15.56 EDTNSW anti-slavery commissioner questions handling of Iranian football squad's departureJordyn BeazleyThe NSW anti-slavery commissioner has questioned the Australian federal police, Sydney airport and Qantas’s role in facilitating the departure of the Iranian women’s football team from Australia, despite “the widespread concern about threats, intimidation, and coercion”.
Dr James Cockayne said in a statement that he was pleased that players and some support staff were given a chance to meet privately with a home affairs official and an interpreter. After the meeting, two more squad members decided to stay in Australia, however one later changed her mind.
But Cockayne said he still holds doubts over whether the women made their decision free from duress.
double quotation markThis was an extraordinarily tough and traumatising decision to have to make – whether to return home to a war-torn country and face the wrath of a highly repressive, misogynistic regime or stay with a very uncertain future far away from family and supports, possibly placing family back in Iran at greater risk.
So the key questions we must ask now are: were these decisions truly made free from duress? And did these women have all the information they needed and were entitled to?
He said a number of questions need to be answered, including if the Iranian athletes received independent legal advice, if the AFP interviewed the women to determine if they were being coerced, and what Sydney airport and Qantas did to “address this clear and highly publicised risk of exit trafficking”.
double quotation markLike many Australians, I look forward to these urgent questions being answered. I certainly do not want to believe that our national police force, or the businesses that run our national flag carrier and our busiest airport, may have turned a blind eye or even unwittingly contributed to exit trafficking.
