1511698 (Refugee)

The applicant, an Albanian national, sought a protection visa, claiming she feared for her life if returned to Albania. Her claims included that she left Albania due to civil unrest in 1997, during which her sibling was shot and her father narrowly avoided being shot. She further asserted that Albania is an unsafe country where people kill for survival, and that she would be targeted for her perceived wealth due to having lived in a Western country since 2007, alleging that the police are under-resourced and unable to provide protection. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered these claims in light of the evidence provided.

The AAT was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa under section 36(2) of the relevant Act. This involved assessing the credibility and substance of her claims regarding past persecution and the risk of future harm in Albania, including the specific concerns about civil unrest, perceived wealth, and the capacity of the Albanian police to offer protection. The Tribunal was also bound to consider relevant Ministerial Directions, policy guidelines, and country information assessments prepared by government departments.

In its reasoning, the Tribunal noted that the applicant did not satisfy the criterion in section 36(2) on the basis of being a member of the same family unit as a person who held a protection visa. No further details regarding the Tribunal's assessment of the applicant's individual claims or the evidence presented were provided in the extract. The Tribunal affirmed the delegate's decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa.