1512413 (Refugee)

This matter concerned an application for a protection visa by a woman of half-Eritrean and Amharic ethnicity, who claimed a fear of persecution upon return to Ethiopia. The applicant alleged she faced risks due to her ethnicity, her association with the Arena party and the group Ginbot 7, her past as a sexual assault victim, and potential harm from her ex-husband including domestic violence and forced child removal. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal was required to review the delegate's decision to refuse the visa.

The Tribunal was tasked with determining whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa under section 36 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth), specifically whether she was a refugee within the meaning of Article 1A(2) of the Refugees Convention, or alternatively, whether Australia had protection obligations under the complementary protection criterion in section 36(2)(aa) due to a real risk of significant harm upon removal. This involved assessing the applicant's claims of persecution based on race, membership of a particular social group, and political opinion, in light of the evolving political situation in Ethiopia.

The Tribunal considered extensive country information, particularly regarding recent political changes in Ethiopia under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, including the release of political prisoners, peace agreements with Eritrea, and the lifting of terrorist designations for certain opposition groups. The Tribunal found that these substantial and sustainable changes significantly reduced the likelihood of the state harming someone with the applicant's profile. It concluded that the applicant's political activities were peripheral and low-level, and her associations, including with Ginbot 7, no longer placed her at risk given the changed political climate and the organisation's de-listing. Similarly, fears related to her Eritrean background and her father's deportation were deemed not to pose a real risk of significant harm in the current context. The Tribunal also did not accept that past sexual assault or being a divorced single mother with a child constituted a particular social group for the purposes of persecution.

The Tribunal affirmed the delegate's decision to refuse the protection visa.