1608247 (Refugee)

This matter concerned an application for review of a delegate of the Minister for Immigration's decision to refuse to grant the applicant, a male child born in Australia to Pakistani parents, a protection visa. The applicant's parents had previously applied for and been refused protection visas, a decision affirmed by the Refugee Review Tribunal and subsequently the Federal Circuit Court. The applicant's claims for protection were based on allegations that his family was targeted in Pakistan due to perceptions of allegiance to a foreign country and a belief that they were funded to speak against Islam, leading to physical attacks and harassment.

The court was required to determine whether the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, or whether there were substantial grounds for believing that, as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of removal to Pakistan, the applicant faced a real risk of suffering significant harm. This involved assessing the credibility and sufficiency of the evidence provided by the applicant and his parents in support of their claims.

The court affirmed the delegate's decision, finding that despite the claims made, the information provided was not sufficiently detailed to satisfy the Tribunal that the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution or faced a real risk of significant harm upon return to Pakistan. The court reiterated that the onus remained on the applicant to supply the relevant facts in sufficient detail, and that a decision-maker was not required to make the applicant's case or uncritically accept all allegations. The court noted that the applicant did not satisfy the criteria under s.36(2) of the Migration Act 1958.