ミャンマー選手が難民申請　「３本指」で抗議、帰国拒否―大阪

　サッカー・ワールドカップ（Ｗ杯）アジア２次予選のため来日し、帰国を拒んだミャンマー代表のピエ・リアン・アウン選手（２７）が２２日、大阪出入国在留管理局（大阪市住之江区）を訪れ、難民認定を申請した。
　午後３時前、やや緊張した面持ちで庁舎に入った同選手。申請後の取材に「一段落、安心した」と話し、「平和になったら国へ帰るが、しばらくの間、難民申請を認めてほしい」と訴えた。今後の日本での生活やミャンマーに残した家族について不安を口にし、「心も体も疲れている」としゃがみ込む場面もあった。
　支援する弁護士によると、申請時に担当者から、なるべく早期に審査を進める意向が示されたという。
　同選手は５月２８日に千葉市内で行われた日本戦で、３本指を掲げるポーズを示し国軍に抗議。今月１６日、帰国のため選手団と共に関西空港へ到着後、「命に危険がある」として出国審査時に帰国を拒んだ。（2021/06/22-18:02）

A member of the Myanmarese men's national soccer team filed an application for refugee status in Japan on Tuesday.
   Pyae Lyan Aung, 27, who came to Japan for the team's qualifier matches for the 2022 FIFA World Cup and refused to return home, made the application at the Osaka Regional Immigration Services Bureau in the western Japan city of Osaka.
   He arrived at the bureau shortly before 3 p.m. (6 a.m. GMT), looking anxious. After the filing, he told reporters that he finally feels relieved. While noting that he will return home after peace is restored in Myanmar, where a military coup took place in early February, the footballer said he wants Japan to accept him as a refugee in the meantime.
   Pyae Lyan Aung voiced concerns about his life in Japan and his family members in Myanmar. He said he is exhausted both physically and mentally. A lawyer supporting Pyae Lyan Aung quoted an official of the immigration bureau as saying that the authorities plan to screen his application early.
   Pyae Lyan Aung, a substitute goalkeeper, flashed a three-finger salute, signaling protest against the Myanmarese military, during a World Cup qualifier match between Japan and Myanmar in the city of Chiba, east of Tokyo, on May 28. On Wednesday last week, he arrived at Kansai International Airport in the western prefecture of Osaka with teammates to travel back to Myanmar. But he refused to board the plane, telling an immigration officer that his life would be under threat if he returns home.