The release of Hakeem al-Araibi is a win for humanity, for the power of citizens of the world demanding that human rights be protected, a step forward for Thailand, a challenge for Australia and the beginning of a broader fight for the values of sport.
Firstly, thank you to the wonderful people of Thailand for their support and to the Thai government for finding the right decision in time.
It is not possible to thank everyone involved because this campaign was not about one, or two or a handful, it was about hundreds of thousands of people and organisations of conscience worldwide who decided that goodness and compassion would trump evil.
If the people of the world decide that we value human life above unjust laws, retribution and royal edicts, who is to stop us after all?
We fought for one soul because Hakeem represented everyone who suffers under tyranny and, through him, we hope to build a better world. One person at a time.
But it was about so much more than that.
Hopefully this is the beginning of Thailand implementing refugee laws in line with international norms. If so, each of the almost 80 nights that Hakeem spent in incarceration would at least represent another life saved in coming years.
But this was never about our Thai friends. Australia’s record on refugees also requires revision and, while we did not want to dilute the message throughout the campaign, I assure our Thai friends that we always intended to hold ourselves to the same standards.
Australia needs to look at how we treat every human being that comes to these shores, irrespective of how they arrive. I have committed to many throughout this campaign, including the UN, that I would work to this end when Hakeem was free and I intend to do so.
We are all equal, and should all be treated with equal dignity, care and respect.
I wish to thank the Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, and ambassador-designate Allan McKinnon and all his staff in Bangkok. Human rights are apolitical, and all corners of the political landscape came together, demonstrating that compassion should never stop at party boundaries, and these three went above and beyond.
Now, I’m calling on Scott and Marise to commit to more humane policies for all the “Hakeems” who come into Australia’s care. Our nation has a big heart, we saw just how big in the past few months, and we need to carry this compassion forward. Every person who we, Thailand or any other country, mistreat is one too many. Australia must do better than we have in recent years.
Finally, for now, this was a huge challenge for global sport, particularly football.
We think that this campaign showed what sport can be, and our job as former players or athletes is to ensure that all sport becomes the vanguard for human rights.
Stepping forward to uphold the human rights of everyone within the game should be a natural part of its value system. As players, we believe in protecting a fellow colleague very deeply and will take every step to do so, now it is time for those in positions of governance to be held to the same standards.
Player and athlete bodies responded according to their strong values of solidarity along with many human rights organisations globally. This includes the PFA, World Players Utd, FiFPro, Amnesty Australia, Human Rights Watch, Centre for Sport and Human Rights, GIDHR and BIRD as well as the Olympic movement led by our own athletes in Australia that spread around the world.
I also want to acknowledge Fifa secretary-general, Fatma Samoura, who escalated the response of the organisation following our urgent meeting in Zurich and it was very important to have a Fifa representative at the hearing last Monday.
Much more could and should have been done, including public advocacy by the Fifa president and sporting sanctions. We will be calling for a full audit of actions taken by all officials to ensure that future responses are effective, timely and save lives and that every high official undertakes their maximum duty.
While delighted that Hakeem is free and will be with his wife by Tuesday afternoon, we are just warming up because this was a fight for the soul of sport and, while a blow has been struck, a great battle lies ahead.
The first step was to save Hakeem’s life. The next is to hold the game accountable for its response – or lack thereof. We will work to ensure all those in positions of governance that were willing to sacrifice the life of one player while occupying positions of influence and prestige, whether in football, the Olympic movement or any other sport, are expunged.
This has shone a particularly bright light on the atrocities against athletes of 2011/12 in Bahrain and we want to see a full investigation into the matter by both Fifa and the IOC to ensure that justice is done for all athletes, not only Hakeem.
We hope that Thailand, Australia, Bahrain and our beautiful game of football, as well as all sport will benefit from the campaign to save Hakeem al-Araibi which brought people together everywhere, in unity, for positive change.
And we won’t stop until that is the case.
My love and thanks to everyone involved, you have been an inspiration to work with and to come to know.
It gives us renewed confidence in a more humane world that we wish to create together, in which we passionately believe sport can, and must, play a central role.
Craig Foster is a former Australian footballer and now television analyst for SBS and Amnesty human rights and refugee ambassador.