Thai Authorities Release Bahraini Refugee Soccer Player Amidst Diplomatic Pressure

Last week, the IELR Blog reported on the case of Hakeem al-Araibi, a 25-year-old refugee originally from Bahrain who resides and plays professional soccer in Australia. While al-Araibi has retained refugee status in Australia since 2017, Bahraini authorities have had an arrest warrant out for him since he fled the country in 2014. They allege that al-Araibi vandalized a police station, even though he was playing in a televised soccer match when the supposed crime took place. Bahraini authorities issued an INTERPOL Red Notice against al-Araibi, so after travelling from Australia to Thailand last November, he was arrested. However, INTERPOL soon lifted that request, as red notices are not meant to apply to refugees. Nevertheless, he was entered into Thai custody, where he awaited his potential extradition to Bahrain. On Monday, February 11, Thai authorities released al-Araibi after detaining him for more than two months. According to Thailand’s Office of the Attorney…

Read more detail on Recent Administrative Law posts –

This entry was posted in Administrative law and tagged , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply