Sierra Leone is pressing Australia to refuse political asylum for 14 of its Commonwealth Games athletes who deserted during the Games last month.
The 14, part of a 22-member team, turned up at refugee centres claiming they feared to return home because the West African country remains insecure.
The female athletes in the group claim they would face genital mutilation if they return to what is also one of the poorest countries in the world.
Sierra Leone has formally written to Australian officials and offered video footage of the athletes meeting with President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah.
In that meeting, they gave assurances they would not defect.
Sierra Leone has only recently begun rebuilding after a civil war in which tens of thousands of people died.
The country's athletes have a poor record of returning home, with 21 members of the previous Commonwealth Games team going missing in Britain four years ago.