1705878 (Refugee)

The applicant, a citizen of Malaysia, sought review of the Refugee Tribunal's decision to refuse to grant a protection visa. The applicant claimed to fear harm from illegal moneylenders in Malaysia, alleging that they were part of a social group defined by their indebtedness and the associated risks of engaging with such lenders. The matter came before Susan Trotter, acting as a delegate of the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, for a review of the Tribunal's decision.

The central legal issue before the delegate was whether the applicant's fear of harm from illegal moneylenders constituted a well-founded fear of persecution for a reason falling within the definition of a refugee, specifically whether the group of "borrowers of money from moneylenders" constituted a social group for the purposes of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). The delegate was required to assess if the applicant's claimed fear was objectively reasonable and if the alleged social group met the criteria for recognition under international refugee law as interpreted in Australian jurisprudence.

In her reasoning, the delegate considered the established criteria for identifying a social group, which generally requires a common and immutable characteristic that binds the members together, and that the group is distinct from the general population. The delegate found that while the applicant's fear of harm from moneylenders was genuine, the group of "borrowers of money from moneylenders" was too broad and lacked the necessary nexus of shared characteristics beyond the transactional relationship with moneylenders. The delegate concluded that the group did not possess the defining characteristics of a social group as contemplated by refugee law, and therefore, the applicant's fear, while real, did not engage the protection provisions of the *Migration Act*.

The delegate affirmed the Refugee Tribunal's decision, finding that the applicant did not meet the criteria for a protection visa.