The Australian Border Force has admitted "human error" by its officers resulted in police being unaware that footballer Hakeem al-Araibi was a refugee before he was issued with a red notice and detained in Bangkok for more than two months.

ABF commissioner Michael Outram said an officer failed to send a "true match notification advice" to the Australian Federal Police and the Department of Home Affairs, which would have alerted them to the fact that he was on a protection visa in Australia.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison meets with footballer Hakeem al-Araibi last week. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

That fact, once revealed to the AFP the day after Mr al-Araibi was arrested in Thailand, prompted Interpol to cancel the "red notice" issued at the request of Bahrain. Had it been known to the AFP beforehand, the AFP-based Interpol team would not have issued the notice.

The email notification is a manual, not automatic, process. Mr Outram told a Senate estimates inquiry on Monday night that "having reviewed the circumstances surrounding Mr al-Araibi, it is clear that human error occurred within the ABF process".