Sierra Leone's 14 runaway athletes get Australian visas

All 14 Sierra Leone athletes who went missing while competing in the Commonwealth Games in March have been given permanent visas to remain in Australia, a refugee advocate said yesterday.

Runner Dady Alie Bangura and cyclist Alhassan Bangura received visas yesterday, joining a dozen compatriots who are now either working or studying in Sydney.

"That's 14 out of 14, so we're absolutely rapt," refugee advocate David Addington told the Australian Associated Press.

Almost 7,000 people were issued with Commonwealth Games Travel Authority visas to the March 15-26 Games in the southern port city of Melbourne.

At least 25 athletes were reported missing during the games, including two-thirds of the Sierra Leone team.

The Sierra Leone athletes were found at various locations in Sydney in the week following the Games and were granted bridging visas while their new applications were processed.

At the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, 20 of the 30 athletes Sierra Leone sent failed to leave Britain as they were supposed to.

British authorities did not give details on those cases.

Sierra Leone has a violent history that has left it among the world's poorest countries. Commonwealth Games organizers paid for the team's airfare to Australia.