1619522 (Refugee)

The applicant, Mr [A], sought judicial review of a decision by the Refugee Tribunal to affirm the refusal of his application for a protection visa. Mr [A] claimed he left Indonesia due to pressure and bullying from his former employer's director board, who allegedly forced him to falsify financial records. He alleged that after resigning, he was threatened by "debt collectors" and his house was destroyed, leading him to flee to Australia with his family.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether Mr [A] met the criteria for a protection visa under the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). Specifically, the court had to consider whether Mr [A] possessed a "well-founded fear of persecution" as defined by the Act, and whether Australia had protection obligations towards him. This involved assessing the credibility of his claims of persecution and whether any such persecution would be for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, and if effective protection measures were available in Indonesia.

The court affirmed the Tribunal's decision, finding that Mr [A] did not satisfy the criteria for a protection visa. While acknowledging the applicant's stated fear of harm and his past experiences, the court concluded that his primary motivation for seeking a protection visa was to formalise his migration status and gain work rights in Australia, rather than a well-founded fear of persecution for Convention reasons. The court noted that Mr [A] had not demonstrated that he was unable or unwilling to avail himself of the protection of Indonesia, nor that he could not relocate within Indonesia to avoid any potential harm. Furthermore, the court found no basis for Mr [A] to satisfy the criteria under s.36(2) as a member of the same family unit as a person who held a protection visa.