1621336 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the case of an applicant seeking a protection visa. The applicant, a male from Sabah, Malaysia, claimed he feared persecution upon return due to his participation in a protest against the Malaysian government. He alleged that participants were blacklisted and would face arrest and imprisonment.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa, specifically whether he had a well-founded fear of persecution based on his political opinion, or alternatively, whether he met the complementary protection criteria due to a real risk of significant harm upon removal from Australia. The Tribunal was required to assess the applicant's claims against the provisions of the *Migration Act 1958*, including the definitions of persecution, significant harm, and effective protection measures, and to consider relevant policy guidelines and country information.

The Tribunal found that the applicant's claims lacked credibility due to significant inconsistencies and vagueness. While the applicant stated he participated in a protest for Sabah's independence and against the government's revenue policies, he also claimed a permit was issued for the protest and that nothing happened to him personally, though he felt threatened. He did not provide sufficient detail to establish a well-founded fear of persecution for his political opinion. Furthermore, the Tribunal considered that the applicant had not demonstrated a real risk of significant harm, noting that the risk he described appeared to be faced by the population generally, and that he had not explored reasonable steps such as relocation within Malaysia.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa, concluding that he did not satisfy the relevant criteria under the *Migration Act 1958*.