1712931 (Refugee)

The applicant, a citizen of Fiji, sought review of the delegate of the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection's decision to refuse his protection visa application. The applicant had arrived in Australia on a visitor visa in September 2016 and had departed and re-entered Australia on three occasions, with his most recent entry being in March 2017, shortly before he lodged his protection visa application. The delegate refused the visa, finding that the applicant did not meet the criteria for a protection visa under either the refugee or complementary protection provisions.

The legal issues before the court were whether the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, and whether Australia had protection obligations towards him. Specifically, the court had to consider the applicant's claims of fear of harm from the Fijian military and police due to past events, including alleged involvement in a murder and arson, and his concerns about land disputes and potential political involvement. The court also had to assess whether any claimed fear was a real chance of persecution, whether effective protection measures were available in Fiji, and whether the applicant could take reasonable steps to avoid any such risk.

The court affirmed the decision to refuse the protection visa. It found that the applicant's claims were vague and inconsistent, and that his evidence did not establish a well-founded fear of persecution. The court noted that the applicant had travelled multiple times on his own passport and had applied for the visa just before his visitor visa expired. Furthermore, the court considered that the applicant's wife's separate protection visa application had already been refused and affirmed. The court concluded that the applicant did not satisfy the criteria for a protection visa, including the requirement that Australia had protection obligations towards him.