What began as a honeymoon turned into a two-month nightmare, but at last Hakeem al-Araibi’s ordeal is over. The refugee footballer will be returned to Australia after months of pressure from rights groups, former Socceroos, the Australian government and even the heroes of the Thai cave rescue.
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The pity is, the past two months of detention and fears he would be tortured on return to Bahrain could have all been avoided. As a recognised refugee travelling on an Australian travel document, Araibi should never have been subject to an Interpol red notice.
Once it was lifted, he should have been sent home, or released to enjoy his holiday. At worst, with Bahrain making demands of Thailand, sanity should have prevailed and he could have been quietly sent back to Australia.
He very nearly was. Having been dragged off his flight into detention on arrival on November 27, after a few days of detention at Suvarnabhumi Airport a ticket and a boarding pass was placed in his hands and they were prepared to return to Melbourne. He and his wife would have been denied their first proper getaway since the 25-year-old’s refugee status was settled, but they would have been safe in Australia.
Instead, in the hours before leaving he was dragged into detention in Bangkok: the head of the immigration police let slip in the days afterwards that the orders came from higher up in the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
For days, Araibi’s wife was sleeping in the offices of the Immigration Detention Centre with little help. He had a phone for a while and was in contact with friends as far flung as London and Melbourne, pleading for whatever attention he could.
Later, Araibi was taken to a prison, his contact with the world cut off save for visits from lawyers and journalists, and his wife returned to Australia. In recent days, those who knew her said she was doing her best to cope and was about to return to studying, but her life had been put on hold.
Advocates have long suspected the Bahraini royal family is really to blame, as Araibi spoke out about the torture he endured during the Arab Spring, how he fled in 2012, and this scuttled the chances for Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa to claim the FIFA top job.
A story where football and geopolitics have collided, an unlikely coalition of rights advocates and football clubs and former players have spoken out and pleaded with Thai authorities. Craig Foster, who a few weeks ago admitted “I’ve never met the bloke”, has put in the air miles raising awareness, speaking out in Melbourne, Sydney, Zurich, wherever he could be heard.
He was at the Bangkok court last week when Araibi arrived in shackles, an image that shocked much of the world and only added sympathy. Word at the weekend cave divers Richard Harris and Craig Challen, both named Australians of the Year for their part in rescuing 12 junior football players and their coach last year, only added to the momentum.
Thailand, using the excuse it was caught between competing claims, allowed the court proceedings to drag on, and it would have taken months for a trial to settle the matter. In the end, by lifting its extradition request on Monday, it was Bahrain that blinked.
