1615795 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the case of an Indonesian citizen seeking a protection visa. The applicant claimed to have left Indonesia due to experiencing racism as an Indonesian Chinese, including threats and physical attacks by local Muslims and clients at his workplace, and a lack of assistance from the police. He also cited ongoing health issues requiring medical care in Australia.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa under section 36(2)(a) (refugee criterion) or section 36(2)(aa) (complementary protection criterion) of the Migration Act 1958. This involved assessing whether the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution or faced a real risk of significant harm if returned to Indonesia, taking into account relevant country information and policy guidelines.

The Tribunal found that while the applicant was an Indonesian citizen and had provided evidence of past racist incidents and threats in Indonesia, these events did not establish a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion. Furthermore, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant did not meet the complementary protection criterion, as there were no substantial grounds to believe that he would suffer significant harm upon removal from Australia. The Tribunal also noted that the applicant did not satisfy the criterion of being a family member of a person who meets the protection obligations.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa.