1604609 (Refugee)

This matter concerned an application for review of a decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa. The applicant, a single woman from Gujarat, India, claimed she feared being forced into an arranged marriage upon return to India, which she contended would constitute serious harm due to loss of liberty and psychological distress. She argued this harm would be for reasons of her membership in a particular social group, identified as Indian women of marriageable age.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had established a real chance of suffering serious or significant harm if returned to India, specifically in relation to the alleged pressure to marry. This required the Tribunal to consider whether the fear of forced marriage, and the potential consequences thereof, met the threshold for serious harm and whether this harm was for a Convention reason, namely membership of a particular social group.

The Tribunal acknowledged that arranged marriages are common in India and that coercion can occur. However, it found that the applicant, being a highly educated woman who had lived independently in Australia for many years, had not demonstrated a real chance of being forced into marriage against her will or suffering serious harm. The Tribunal noted that while some pressure to marry might exist, the applicant had returned to India on two occasions without experiencing abuse or being prevented from returning to Australia. Furthermore, the Tribunal was not satisfied that educated, self-supporting women were unable to live independently in India or that such women faced a real chance of serious harm for choosing to do so. Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa.