1600862 (Refugee)

This matter concerned an application for a protection visa by an individual from the Punjab region of India. The applicant claimed to fear being attacked or killed by terrorists due to his family's historical involvement in the separation of Pakistan and India, and he expressed psychological fear of violence, asserting that the authorities would be unable to protect him. The Tribunal accepted that India was the country of reference for assessing the applicant's claims.

The legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution for a Convention reason under section 36(2)(a) of the Migration Act 1958, or whether he met the complementary protection criterion under section 36(2)(aa) by facing a real risk of significant harm as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of removal from Australia. The Tribunal was required to determine if the applicant had satisfied the statutory elements for either criterion, considering the available policy guidelines and country information.

The Tribunal reasoned that the applicant's claims were vague and lacked the necessary detail to establish a well-founded fear of persecution or a real risk of significant harm. It noted that the mere assertion of fear does not satisfy the onus on the applicant to provide sufficient facts for the Tribunal to establish the relevant facts. As the applicant had not attended a hearing, the Tribunal was unable to explore his claims further or seek additional information regarding the basis of his protection claims. The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa, finding that he did not satisfy the criterion in section 36(2) of the Act.