1512348 (Refugee)

The applicant, who arrived in Australia in October 2012 and subsequently became an unlawful non-citizen before being granted a bridging visa in November 2014, sought a protection visa. The applicant claimed to be a Christian of the Church of Almighty God (also known as Eastern Lightning) and feared persecution in China due to her religious beliefs and her parents' activities. The delegate had refused the protection visa, and the applicant sought review of this decision by the Tribunal.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa, specifically under section 36(2)(a) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth), which requires the Minister to be satisfied that Australia has protection obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention. This involved determining if the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, and if such persecution would be a real and foreseeable consequence of her removal from Australia. The Tribunal also considered whether the applicant's claims regarding her religious practice and the alleged persecution of her family were credible.

The Tribunal considered the applicant's evidence, including her written statement detailing her family's history of attending house churches, her parents' conversion to the Church of Almighty God, their subsequent arrest and harassment by authorities, and the alleged pressure on her father regarding her own activities. The Tribunal also had regard to independent country information regarding unregistered religious organisations in China. However, the Tribunal found inconsistencies in the applicant's evidence and ultimately concluded that the applicant had not established that she met the criteria for a protection visa.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa.