Australia's home affairs minister Peter Dutton has warned a group of African athletes who went missing during the Commonwealth Games to give themselves up now, or face being deported.
Australia's home affairs minister Peter Dutton has warned a group of African athletes who went missing during the Commonwealth Games to give themselves up now, or face being deported.
Cameroon's delegation at the Games opening ceremony. Eight of the 24 athletes went missing during the Games. Photo: AFP
Eight athletes from Cameroon, two from Uganda and a Rwandan para-powerlifting coach went missing from the Gold Coast Games, local media have reported.
The athletes will be in Australia illegally from midnight tonight (local time) when their visas expire, unless they have taken legal steps to stay.
"If they breach the conditions, they're subject to enforcement action," Dutton told reporters.
"Like anyone else, they're expected to operate within the law, and enforcement action will take place to identify those people and to deport them if they don't self-declare."
Some of the athletes had contacted a refugee advice centre in Sydney, the Daily Telegraph reported.
"Some have been to us for advice," Refugee Advice and Casework Service lawyer Ben Lumsdaine told the paper.
Australia's immigration authorities often grant temporary 'bridging' visas that allow in-country residency applicants to remain while their cases are assessed.
The eight Cameroon athletes comprised one-third of its 24-athlete delegation to the Games.
Australia's hardline immigration policy, which requires asylum seekers intercepted at sea to be sent for processing to camps in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, has been condemned by human rights groups.
-Reuters