Sierra Leone at the 2006 Commonwealth Games

A further seven Sierra Leonean athletes also went missing during the course of the Games, bringing the total runaway count to fourteen (two thirds of the team).

On request of Sierra Leone officials, the Commonwealth Games Federation cancelled the missing athletes' Games accreditation, allowing the Australian Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (DIMA) to cancel their visas at midnight on Monday 27 March, and begin investigating their disappearance.

At 7.20am on that day, New South Wales Police located six of the Sierra Leonean athletes in a house at Harbord near Manly Beach in Sydney.

[1] All six indicated they wished to seek political asylum in Australia, and were granted bridging visas by DIMA while their refugee applications were arranged.

The athletes claimed to have been subjected to violence and torture in their home country; seventeen-year-old Isha Conteh stated she could be forced into female genital cutting if she returned (ABC News).