1609041 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the protection visa claims of three applicants. The primary applicant alleged a fear of her ex-husband returning to Malaysia, citing past serious domestic violence, threats to her life, and threats to kidnap their daughter. She contended that Malaysian authorities could not provide protection and that internal relocation was not a viable option due to her ex-husband's connections within the police force. The fears of the second and third applicants were said to arise from the circumstances of the primary applicant.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicants met the criteria for a protection visa, specifically considering the refugee criterion under s.36(2)(a) of the Act and the complementary protection criterion under s.36(2)(aa). This involved assessing the credibility of the primary applicant's claims of past domestic violence, threats, and the risk of significant harm upon return to Malaysia, as well as the availability of effective protection from the Malaysian authorities and the feasibility of internal relocation. The Tribunal also had to consider relevant policy guidelines and country information assessments.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision under review. It found that while the primary applicant had provided evidence of significant past domestic violence, including threats with a gun, and had obtained a divorce through Fasakh proceedings based on these grounds, her claims regarding the current risk of significant harm upon return to Malaysia were not sufficiently established. The Tribunal noted that the ex-husband had not physically harmed her or her mother during subsequent visits and that the police had indicated the matter was a family issue. Furthermore, the Tribunal considered that the primary applicant had left Malaysia with the second applicant, leaving their daughter with another relative, and that the ex-husband had not taken steps to locate them. The Tribunal concluded that there were not substantial grounds for believing that the applicants would suffer significant harm as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of being removed from Australia.