1509902 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the case of an applicant seeking a protection visa. The applicant, a citizen of China, claimed to have been a practitioner of Yi Guan Dao in China with her parents, alleging they faced mistreatment by government authorities and that she herself was interrogated at school. Upon arriving in Australia in 2008, she later resumed Yi Guan Dao practice and asserted a fear of serious harm if returned to China due to her religious beliefs.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant met the refugee criterion under section 36(2)(aa) of the relevant Act, which involves assessing whether there are substantial grounds for believing that, as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of her removal to China, she faces a real risk of suffering significant harm. This assessment necessitated an evaluation of the applicant's claims regarding her past religious practice in China and the credibility of her assertions about potential future harm.

In its reasoning, the Tribunal found that it was not satisfied that the applicant had established a real risk of suffering significant harm upon return to China. The decision indicates that the Tribunal was not convinced of the applicant's genuine adherence to Yi Guan Dao in China, nor that her parents were mistreated by authorities for this reason. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant did not satisfy the criterion for a protection visa under section 36(2)(aa).