1711056 (Refugee)

The applicant, a man from Colombia, sought a protection visa in Australia. He claimed to have been threatened by members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) due to his refusal to cooperate with their demands. The delegate refused his application, a decision which the applicant appealed to the Tribunal.

The primary 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 for a Convention reason or faced a real risk of significant harm if returned to Colombia. This involved assessing the credibility of his claims of threats from FARC, considering the impact of the peace deal between FARC and the Colombian government, and determining if any fear of harm was personal and not general to the population.

The Tribunal considered the applicant's account of being approached by a FARC member and receiving threatening phone calls, which led him to hide and eventually leave Colombia. However, the Tribunal noted that the applicant's wife and children remained in Colombia without incident, and he had not taken steps to relocate them. The applicant acknowledged the peace deal but expressed fear of FARC dissidents. The Tribunal found that the applicant's claims were not sufficiently substantiated to establish a well-founded fear of persecution or a real risk of significant harm.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa, concluding that he did not satisfy the criteria under section 36(2) or 36(2)(aa) of the Migration Act 1958.