1707382 (Refugee)

The applicant, a citizen of Sri Lanka, sought review of the Refugee Tribunal's decision to refuse his application for a protection visa. The applicant claimed to fear persecution from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan government. The primary dispute concerned whether the applicant could avail himself of the protection of the Malaysian government, should he be returned to Malaysia, which was considered a potential non-refoulement country. The matter came before the Federal Court of Australia.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the applicant had discharged his onus of proving that he would not receive effective protection from the Malaysian authorities against refoulement to Sri Lanka. This involved an assessment of the Malaysian legal framework and its practical application in relation to individuals seeking protection from persecution. The Court was required to consider whether the Malaysian government's obligations under international law, particularly the principle of non-refoulement, were adequately met in practice.

In reaching its decision, the Court applied the principles established in *Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs v Teoh* and *Kaba v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs*. The Court found that the evidence did not establish that the Malaysian authorities would fail to provide effective protection to the applicant. The Court noted that while Malaysia is not a signatory to the Refugee Convention, it has a practice of providing protection to asylum seekers, and there was no evidence to suggest this practice would not extend to the applicant. The Court concluded that the applicant had not demonstrated a real chance of being refouled to Sri Lanka by the Malaysian authorities.

The application for review was dismissed.