1712656 (Refugee)

The applicant, a citizen of the Philippines, sought review of a decision affirming the refusal of her protection visa application. The dispute centred on her claims of fearing persecution upon return to the Philippines due to her interfaith relationship with a Muslim man and her family's alleged connections to government officials and law enforcement. The case was heard by Melissa McAdam.

The court was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa, specifically whether there were substantial grounds for believing that, as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of her removal to the Philippines, she would suffer significant harm. This involved assessing the credibility of her claims regarding her parents' threats, her father's alleged connections to officials, and her inability to relocate within the Philippines. The court also considered the complementary protection criterion under section 36(2)(aa) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth).

The court applied the principles of assessing claims for protection visas, including the complementary protection criterion and the meaning of significant harm as defined in the Act. It carefully considered the applicant's evidence, including her statements about her parents' opposition to her religious choices and her relationship with her Muslim partner. While accepting aspects of her claims regarding parental resistance to her non-Catholic faith, the court found inconsistencies and a lack of corroboration regarding the extent of her father's alleged violence and his connections to officials. The court noted that the applicant's claims about her father hitting her were not consistently made and lacked specific detail, leading the court not to accept that he had physically hit her. Furthermore, the court found that the applicant's fear of her father and mother was not supported by evidence of ongoing threats or inability to relocate within the Philippines, particularly given her admission that she had no further problems with her parents after ceasing to attend her church and that her fear was primarily related to her relationship with her Muslim partner.

The court affirmed the decision under review, finding that the applicant had not established a real risk of significant harm upon return to the Philippines.