AOC chief executive Matt Carroll has said that the organisation is looking for "employment and educational opportunities" for the 31 repatriated individuals ©Getty Images

A year on from the fall of Kabul, the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) has completed the evacuation from Afghanistan of five athletes and their families in exceptionally challenging circumstances, it can now be revealed.

After important help from a range of Government and international sports bodies, as well as the security adviser Intelligent Risk, the AOC expects 31 repatriated individuals to be able to start new lives in Australia, which is scheduled to stage its third Summer Olympics and Paralympics in and around Brisbane in 2032.

"These brave people have endured significant hardship and we are so pleased that our efforts have been successful," said Matt Carroll, the AOC's chief executive.

He added: "For the families involved, the stress and uncertainty over this time has been enormous.

"Many have spent time in locations outside Afghanistan and it’s wonderful to now have them on Australian soil.

"All arrived happy, if not exhausted."

While the challenge of picking up the threads of their lives in an alien, if friendly, culture will be considerable, the new arrivals are receiving assistance as they seek to settle in and come to terms with their new situation.

"Our Olympic sports are mobilised to support those families involved in their respective sports," Carroll said.]

He went on: "We are looking at employment and educational opportunities and of course each family is looking to integrate into the Australian community and find appropriate accommodation.

Incheon 2014 Asian Games taekwondo bronze medallist Ahmad Roman Abasy, second from right, is among the 31 repatriated individuals ©Australian Olympic Committee
Incheon 2014 Asian Games taekwondo bronze medallist Ahmad Roman Abasy, second from right, is among the 31 repatriated individuals ©Australian Olympic Committee

"Our sponsors have provided shopping vouchers and support packages of clothing and other items."

According to Carroll, the emigrés include both Olympic athletes and sports administrators who "particularly championed women’s sport through recruitment programmes, coaching and officiating".

One new arrival, Ahmad Roman Abasy, a former taekwondo athlete and Asian Games medallist, told insidethegames that he had campaigned in past years to increase Afghan athletes' salaries and introduce health insurance.

Of his experiences over the past traumatic year, he said:

"After the Taliban entered Kabul, my family and I went to the house of one of our relatives.

"They provided food and other basic supplies for us.

"Of course, we didn't have a specific place to stay for a long time, we changed places.

"It continued like this until leaving Kabul.

"From one house to another and from region to region.

"Trying to survive."

Abasy’s story can be read here.