1600028 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by an individual who claimed to fear harm from Indonesian police due to his participation in anti-corruption demonstrations. The applicant alleged he was arrested and detained on two occasions for participating in such demonstrations, and on the second occasion, was instructed to report to the police weekly. He claimed to have gone into hiding and subsequently left Indonesia for Australia on a student visa, fearing arrest if he remained.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa under section 36(2)(a) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth), specifically concerning a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of political opinion. The Tribunal also considered, as a secondary ground, the complementary protection criterion under section 36(2)(aa), which requires a real risk of significant harm as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of removal to a receiving country. The Tribunal was mandated to consider relevant policy guidelines and country information assessments.

The Tribunal found significant credibility concerns regarding the applicant's account. It noted that the applicant failed to disclose his participation in demonstrations or his fear of police in his initial protection visa application. While the applicant provided evidence of his participation in demonstrations and subsequent arrests, the Tribunal was not satisfied that his fear of harm from the Indonesian police was well-founded or that he met the criteria for complementary protection. The Tribunal concluded that the applicant did not satisfy the criterion in section 36(2) of the Act.

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