1704830 (Refugee)

The applicant sought a protection visa, claiming to be a refugee or to qualify for complementary protection. The dispute arose from the applicant's allegations of conflict with a forestry official in China, involving the burning of forest land, subsequent arrest, physical abuse, detention, and a petition to the central government which allegedly led to his father's arrest and detention. The applicant himself had left China legally in 2014. The decision under review was made by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, presided over by Member Luke Hardy.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa as a refugee, or alternatively, on complementary protection grounds. This required determining if the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution for a Convention reason, or if there were substantial grounds for believing that removal from Australia would result in a real risk of significant harm. The Tribunal also considered its obligation to assess the applicant's claims based on the evidence provided and the statutory requirements for establishing protection obligations.

The Tribunal reasoned that the onus was on the applicant to establish all statutory elements of his claim, and that the mere assertion of fear or risk of harm was insufficient. The Tribunal noted that it was not required to make the applicant's case for him or to uncritically accept his allegations. Applying this principle, the Tribunal found the applicant's claims to be brief and unsupported, lacking the necessary detail to test their veracity or to establish a connection to any of the Convention reasons for persecution under section 5J(1)(a) of the *Migration Act 1958*. The applicant's legal departure from China in 2014 and failure to attend a scheduled interview further weakened his case.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa, finding that the applicant had not satisfied the criteria under section 36(2) of the *Migration Act 1958*, either as a refugee or on complementary protection grounds, and was not a member of the same family unit as a person who met those criteria.