1713017 (Refugee)

This matter concerned an application for review of a delegate of the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection's decision to refuse the applicant, a citizen of Lebanon, a Protection visa. The applicant claimed he was a member of the moderate Islamic Unification Movement (IUM) in Tripoli and feared harm from Salafi and Future Movement groups who targeted the IUM. He alleged he had been assaulted, his car vandalised, and threatened for refusing to join these groups, and that his friend, a fellow IUM member, had been assassinated. The Federal Circuit Court had previously remitted the matter for reconsideration of whether relocation within Lebanon would be reasonable, given the generalised and sectarian violence.

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution for a Convention reason, specifically imputed political opinion, and whether it would be reasonable for him to relocate within Lebanon to avoid such harm. The applicant’s claims centred on his membership of the IUM and the alleged targeting of its members by opposing political and sectarian groups in Tripoli, Lebanon.

The Tribunal considered the applicant's evidence, including his statement detailing the alleged persecution, supporting documents such as news reports on sectarian violence in Lebanon, and his oral evidence. The Tribunal noted that the country information generally supported the applicant's claims regarding the volatile situation in Lebanon and the presence of various armed groups. However, the Tribunal found that the harm feared by the applicant appeared to be localised to his specific area of Tripoli and that the country information suggested that relocation to other parts of Lebanon might be reasonable. The Tribunal ultimately affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a Protection visa.