Big Joke meets Australian authorities over Bahrain national

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Big Joke meets Australian authorities over Bahrain national

 

 

Deputy Head of Mission (Australia) Paul Stephens met with immigration chief Maj-Gen Surachate Hakparn and other senior officials on Monday. 

 

Up for discussion was the current status and conditions of a Bahrain national called Hakeem Araibi who is seeking asylum in Australia. 

 

Mr Araibi is currently in detention in Thailand. 

 

He is wanted on an Interpol red notice. 

 

Source: Immigration Bureau

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2018-12-04

[Oziex1]

Mission Australia is a Christian charity support org like the Salvation army it is not the  as described the Australian Authorities. They have grave concerns for this chappie, understandable as if left to Thai or Australian decision makers he's screwed. 

[dyertribe]

This guy has permanent residency in Australia after fleeing his home country after (alleged) false imprisonment based on the activities of a family member ... He travelled from Australia to Thailand and, if deported, should be returned to point of origin (in my opinion - which may be legally incorrect, but not morally incorrect).

 

Thailand has a track record of deporting people to countries where their life may be in danger or they may be persecuted.

[Chang_paarp]

3 hours ago, Oziex1 said:

Mission Australia is a Christian charity support org like the Salvation army it is not the  as described the Australian Authorities. They have grave concerns for this chappie, understandable as if left to Thai or Australian decision makers he's screwed. 

Paul Stephens is an Australian diplomat, he has nothing to do with the NGO Mission Australia who, as far as I know, do not operate outside of Australia. Mr Stephens is one step below the ambassador, so the Australian government are showing they are serious about this case.

 

Hakeem Araibi the person who is subject of this controversy has received refugee status in Australia and will have paperwork to back this up, which given the Aust Government's attitudes to refugees is quite something. That the Thai immigration are preparing to send him back the country he fled, given their inability to even catch Mr Red Bull on one of his regular trips home is somewhat farcical.

[nahkit]

According to the Guardian newspaper, the Interpol red notice was lifted so the Thai immigration has no right to hold him in that respect.

[Oziex1]

1 hour ago, Chang_paarp said:

Paul Stephens is an Australian diplomat, he has nothing to do with the NGO Mission Australia who, as far as I know, do not operate outside of Australia. Mr Stephens is one step below the ambassador, so the Australian government are showing they are serious about this case.

 

Hakeem Araibi the person who is subject of this controversy has received refugee status in Australia and will have paperwork to back this up, which given the Aust Government's attitudes to refugees is quite something. That the Thai immigration are preparing to send him back the country he fled, given their inability to even catch Mr Red Bull on one of his regular trips home is somewhat farcical.

Hmm, so why was mission Australia mentioned? 

[malathione]

59 minutes ago, Oziex1 said:

Hmm, so why was mission Australia mentioned? 

Head of Mission (Australia) means the Ambassador of Australia to Thailand so the Deputy Head must be the guy under him.

Edited December 4, 2018 by malathione

[evadgib]

Was this an automatic arrest or has he been a naughty boy in los?

[Oziex1]

1 hour ago, malathione said:

Head of Mission (Australia) means the Ambassador of Australia to Thailand so the Deputy Head must be the guy under him.

OK, I get it now.????

 

[Chang_paarp]

1 hour ago, evadgib said:

Was this an automatic arrest or has he been a naughty boy in los?

There was an Interpol red notice on him from the country he had escaped from. He was accused of burning down a police station, if there was any truth in that he would not have got the refugee status in Oz.

The red notice has been withdrawn according to the news here in Oz.

[laocowboy2]

Bahrain PM is very friendly with the Thai government - and vice versa. And he spends a lot of cash in Thailand.

[HalfLight]

I wonder if the Aussies were successful in suppressing the smirks. The photograph suggests not.

 

Unsurprisingly.

 

[Russell17au]

When any country deports a person they can only return them back to the country that has issued their passport and even thou this chap might have applied for refugee status in Australia and hold a residence visa he is not an Australian citizen and therefore he cannot get an Australian passport so he would be traveling on his Bahrain passport so that is the country he would be sent back to. A deportee does not have a choice of what country they want to go to. It makes no difference if it is this chap or not, all countries do the same thing with deportees.

[Peterw42]

A pity the Australians didn't take the opportunity to ask about future requirements for extensions based on income . They are literally sitting at a table with the heads of Thai immigration.

Edited December 4, 2018 by Peterw42

[Peterw42]

43 minutes ago, Russell17au said:

When any country deports a person they can only return them back to the country that has issued their passport and even thou this chap might have applied for refugee status in Australia and hold a residence visa he is not an Australian citizen and therefore he cannot get an Australian passport so he would be traveling on his Bahrain passport so that is the country he would be sent back to. A deportee does not have a choice of what country they want to go to. It makes no difference if it is this chap or not, all countries do the same thing with deportees.

I have always wondered about that, what would stop you transiting at an airport on the way. 

[Russell17au]

5 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

I have always wondered about that, what would stop you transiting at an airport on the way. 

You are taken under guard to the aircraft and your passport is handed to the captain and it is returned to you on the arrival in the passport issuing country. You are never left alone until the door of the aircraft is closed.

[bangrak]

Bahrein is a hard dictatorship by a small elitarian minority of suni muslims amidst a vast majority of shiite citizens. No-one in its right mind could, anywhere, associate the bloody suni dictator's with 'human rights'!  

[Scouse123]

Well,

 

if the guy manages to get to Australia, he better think twice before leaving again until he has sorted his status in Australia out.

 

The Aussies seem to be pulling out the big guns on this for some reason.

 

 

[kkerry]

https://www.theage.com.au/national/thailand-extends-detention-of-australian-refugee-footballer-20181204-p50k8g.html

 

Interpol has said before, where a Red Notice exists, it can't be used to send someone back to where they have fled from as a refugee, in this case Bahrain.

 

The Thai ministry is now saying Thailand will keep him in detention for another twelve days despite the Red notice having been lifted, and if Bahrain can issue an arrest warrant for him in that time Thailand will deport him to Bahrain... so Thailand seem to be saying they don't care what happens to this guy, apart from keeping Bahrain happy...

[Russell17au]

10 hours ago, kkerry said:

https://www.theage.com.au/national/thailand-extends-detention-of-australian-refugee-footballer-20181204-p50k8g.html

 

Interpol has said before, where a Red Notice exists, it can't be used to send someone back to where they have fled from as a refugee, in this case Bahrain.

 

The Thai ministry is now saying Thailand will keep him in detention for another twelve days despite the Red notice having been lifted, and if Bahrain can issue an arrest warrant for him in that time Thailand will deport him to Bahrain... so Thailand seem to be saying they don't care what happens to this guy, apart from keeping Bahrain happy...

You are incorrect. The international law that every country in the world works with is that for deportation the person MUST be sent back to the passport issuing country, that is the country of their citizenship and Thailand is tied to this law the same as Australia, America, UK and every other country. Thailand do not have a choice if this man is deported. The man should have stayed in Australia and not gone traveling around on a passport that has been issued by the country that he was fleeing from. Now if Bahrain issue an arrest warrant for this man he will be sent to Bahrain as he has NOT claimed refugee status in Thailand therefore he does not have the same protection as he would have if he stayed in Australia. Things get very complicated when people claim refugee status in a country and then leave that country on the passport that was issued by the country they were fleeing from. Under international law this man is traveling as a citizen of Bahrain.

[kkerry]

The reason given for holding him for deportation was an Interpol Red Notice, which has now been withdrawn. Interpol have said before that deportation of someone holding refugee status, to the country where they fear prosecution based on a Red Notice does not apply. Bottom line, he should never have been detained in the first place.

 

Thailand appear to be saying, okay, so the Red Notice doesn't apply but regardless, we're going to keep you in detention, long enough for Bahrain to have another crack at getting you back to Bahrain. You can be sure Australia would have looked into his history before granting him permanent residence on a refugee visa. Any new arrest warrant by Bahrain must surely be considered suspect e.g. politically motivated. He should be freed and allowed to continue on his travels, not deported.

 

If he is smart and is released like he should be, he will get on the first flight he can book back to Australia.