1601597 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered the protection visa applications of two applicants from Fiji. The applicants claimed they feared persecution due to their religion (Methodist) and their political opinions, specifically their opposition to the 2006 coup in Fiji and alleged membership in the Fiji Democracy and Freedom Movement. The Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicants met the criteria for a protection visa under section 36 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth), which includes the refugee criterion under section 36(2)(a) and the complementary protection criterion under section 36(2)(aa).

The Tribunal's assessment involved considering whether the applicants had a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, as defined by Article 1A(2) of the Refugees Convention. If the refugee criterion was not met, the Tribunal also had to assess whether there were substantial grounds for believing that the applicants would suffer significant harm as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of their removal from Australia, thereby engaging the complementary protection criterion. In its determination, the Tribunal was directed to consider relevant policy guidelines and country information assessments prepared by the Department of Immigration and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The Tribunal's reasoning focused on the credibility of the applicants' claims and the evidence presented in support of their fears. It was necessary to evaluate whether the alleged discrimination and persecution were sufficiently well-founded and linked to the grounds specified in the Convention. The Tribunal also considered the applicants' status as failed asylum seekers, which may have implications for their credibility. The specific details of the Tribunal's findings on these issues, and the ultimate outcome of the applications, are not detailed in the provided text.