1413191 (Refugee)

This matter concerned an application for protection visas by citizens of China. The principal applicant claimed to be a devoted Christian whose family church was in conflict with the Communist Party in China, leading to the church being defamed as a cult and its activities banned. She asserted that her parents had been arrested and detained for their involvement in church activities, and she feared similar treatment if returned to China. The applicant arrived in Australia in 2008 and had since regularly attended church gatherings.

The legal issues before the court were whether the applicants met the criteria for the grant of a protection visa, specifically under section 36(2)(a) of the Act, or alternatively, under section 36(2)(aa) concerning complementary protection. The court was required to consider whether there were substantial grounds for believing that, as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of the applicant's removal from Australia, there was a real risk that she would suffer significant harm. The Tribunal was mandated to consider relevant policy guidelines and country information assessments prepared by government departments.

The court found that there was no suggestion that any of the applicants satisfied section 36(2) on the basis of being a member of the same family unit as a person who satisfied section 36(2)(a) or (aa) and who held a protection visa. Consequently, the applicants did not satisfy the criterion in section 36(2). The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicants Protection visas.