"My life will end if I go to Bahrain", al-Araibi finally released

located:	Australia, Thailand
editor:	Gurmeet Singh

Last year, the Bahraini refugee and Australian resident Hakeem al-Araibi, travelled from Australia to Thailand with his wife to celebrate their honeymoon. However, instead of soaking up the sun in Thailand, the sportsman found himself being held by authorities in Bangkok. 77 days later, after petitions and pleas from the Australian government, a concerted public relations campaign, help from grassroots organisations and support from the world over, he was released.

He was being held by Thai authorities after Bahrain had officially requested his extradition back to the country from Thailand. Despite having successfully won a residency status in Australia (though not yet citizenship), and regardless of having a somewhat prominent public profile as a footballer, the case did not win major public attention until the new year. It was clear that Bahrain was disingenuously claiming that it wanted al-Araibi’s extradition for an act of vandalism committed years earlier (a dubious case, given al-Araibi was likely to have been elsewhere at the time). It was also clear that Bahrain requested his return to the country, as al-Araibi was a dissident, and had spoken out against the country’s human rights abuses, and even criticised Bahraini royal Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa. He told the media, "my life will end if I go to Bahrain".

al-Arabi left the country in 2016 and found his way to Australia. His detention and fear of extradition were well founded; given his past, he believed that he would have been executed by authorities upon his return.

The case won the hearts of millions of people around the world, and has become international headline news. It also managed to overcome the vitriolic tone and anti-refugee media coverage in Australia, with many major news outlets covering the story in favour of al-Araibi, and many hundreds of thousands of Australians supporting grassroots campaigns to secure his freedom. This may not be the ‘main’ story to emerge from the case, but it is an important one – even when it seems popular will has completely turned against a subject – it can be contradicted with a human story.

There is an element of ‘exceptionalism’ to this story (not every refugee will have a prominent public profile), nor will they have a seemingly glamorous profession. But it is positive that many more people understand the basic dynamics of the refugee situation, the inability to return home safely, and the desire to live and work in a new country.

Finally, a word must be said on the shameful lack of action on the part of FIFA and other footballing authorities which They hardly raised a word in protest of al-Araibi’s brief detention, and their inanition revealed their stance loud and clear: for FIFA, human rights come second, politics first.

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