Thailand will release a Bahraini football player

(New York) – The Thai government should immediately release him and allow him to return to his wife and his team in Australia, Human Rights Watch said today, announcing a campaign for the freedom of the refugee footballer Hakim al-Oreibi. After severe statements by the International Football Federation (FIFA) and "International Olympic Committee"The Bahraini government has accelerated the deportation process to send it to Bahrain." FIFA's fundamental system and its human rights policy aim to protect against the abuses of professional players like Ureybi.

Thai authorities have not responded to the many governments and sports federations that have called for Ureybi's freedom, Human Rights Watch has launched a digital campaign "#SaveHakeem"(Save Hakim) to encourage athletes and interested people from around the world to write directly to Thai Prime Minister Brayut Chan Ocha.

"Footballer Hakim Oreibi is a recognized refugee, but Thailand seems to be considering forcibly returning him to Bahrain, where he faces torture or even worse," said Menki Warden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch. "In addition to the Australian government, FIFA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Freedom of Oreibi:" Thailand should allow his immediate return to his wife and colleagues in Australia. "

"Bahrain is a country where there are no human rights, my life is in danger, FIFA must protect me and protect all players," said Oreibi, a Bahraini who got the asylum in Australia in 2017.

Oreibi was arrested for the first time in Bahrain in 2012 and claims to have been tortured in detention because of his brother's political activities. In 2014, he was unjustly convicted for vandalizing a police station. At the time of the alleged crime, Ureybi was playing a televised football game. He was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in jail and later in 2014 he escaped to Australia.

Human Rights Watch has extensively documented widespread torture and ill-treatment of detained and opposition activists by Bahraini security forces since the 2011 anti-government protests.

Thailand is bound by the principle of non-refoulement embodied in customary international law, which prohibits the return of anyone to a place where they are at real risk of persecution, torture or other ill-treatment or to life in danger. In addition, the United Nations Convention against Torture, to which Thailand is a party, prohibits governments from returning or extraditing anyone to a country where there is good reason to believe that he or she would run the risk of being subjected to torture.

Thai immigration officers were arrested on November 27, 2018, while he was arriving from Australia with his wife at Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok, for a honeymoon. Uribe officials said they were acting in accordance with Interpol's Red Notice at Bahrain's request and would send him back to Bahrain. Bahrain's Red Notice violates Interpol's policy of banning government notifications to refugees who have fled the persecution of the requesting country. This newsletter has since been revoked.

Ureybi is currently a professional at the Pasco Valley Football Club in Melbourne. He is still openly criticizing the government of Bahrain.

Oreibi also criticized the current AFC president, Shaikh Salman Al Khalifa, FIFA vice president and member of the ruling family in Bahrain. Al-Oreibi claimed that Sheikh Salman had not put an end to the persecution and torture of Bahraini athletes who participated in the protests in 2011.

"The position of Sheikh Salman, a prominent figure in FIFA and the ruling family in Bahrain, places him well placed to stop deportation," Warden said.

"I want to tell a president," Oreibi told Human Rights Watch on December 6, from a Thai detention center. [الفيفا] [جياني] Infantino can save my life – and I ask him for help. "

Human Rights Watch said that FIFA had intervened in the Ureybi case, but that it should do more. On January 23, 2019, FIFA Secretary General Fatima Samoura wrote to Brayot asking for an urgent "humanitarian solution" to the Ureybi case.

FIFA has recently undertaken numerous institutional reforms to defend human rights and must use its influence to prevent the return of Ureybi to Bahrain.

This includes Thailand's ambitions to host the World Cup in the future: Thailand and Indonesia have presented a joint dossier for the organization of the 2034 World Cup.

"Thailand has stated that it is interested in the organization of the 2034 World Cup. According to FIFA's new accommodation requirements, all host countries must report on the country's climate of rights. Man – and sending a footballer into a situation where there is a real risk of torture will be a black mark for Thailand's record. "He said.