1617222 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application for protection visas by a family unit, comprising an applicant wife and applicant son, who sought to remain in Australia. The applicants claimed they would suffer significant harm if returned to Fiji due to imputed political opinion, membership of a particular social group, and their religious and racial background. The Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicants met the criteria for a protection visa under section 36(2)(a) or 36(2)(aa) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth), and whether they qualified as a family unit under section 36(2) based on a family member satisfying those criteria.

The Tribunal's reasoning focused on the credibility of the applicants' claims and the assessment of whether there were substantial grounds for believing a real risk of significant harm existed upon return to Fiji. The Tribunal found inconsistencies in the applicants' accounts regarding the number and sequence of alleged incidents of harm, and perceived their political profile to be exaggerated. The Tribunal applied the definition of a well-founded fear of persecution, which requires a fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, and a real chance of such persecution in all areas of the receiving country, unless effective protection measures are available or the person can modify their behaviour to avoid persecution without compromising fundamental aspects of their identity or conscience.

Ultimately, the Tribunal was not satisfied that there were substantial grounds for believing that the applicant wife and applicant son would suffer significant harm as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of removal to Fiji. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that none of the applicants met the refugee criterion under section 36(2)(a) or the alternative criterion under section 36(2)(aa). As the family unit did not satisfy the primary criteria, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the protection visas.