1730394 (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 Malaysia, a protection visa. The applicant arrived in Australia in June 2017 and applied for a protection visa, claiming fear of returning to Malaysia due to political and economic issues, including a lack of employment opportunities and the inability to support his family. The delegate refused the visa on the basis that the applicant did not meet the definition of a refugee under section 5H(1) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) and that there were no substantial grounds to believe he would suffer significant harm upon removal to Malaysia.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the applicant was a refugee within the meaning of section 5H(1) of the Act, and alternatively, whether Australia had protection obligations towards him under the complementary protection criterion in section 36(2)(aa) of the Act. This involved assessing 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 there was a real chance of persecution in Malaysia. It also required considering whether, as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of removal, there was a real risk of significant harm.

The Tribunal considered the applicant's claims in light of the evidence, including country information from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. It noted that the onus was on the applicant to satisfy the Tribunal of the statutory elements, and that mere claims of fear did not establish their genuineness or well-foundedness. The applicant had been invited to provide information and attend a hearing but did not respond to the initial invitation and subsequently consented to a decision on the papers without further participation. The Tribunal found that the applicant had not established that he was a refugee, nor that he faced a real risk of significant harm upon return to Malaysia, particularly in relation to his claims about economic conditions and employment.

The Tribunal affirmed the delegate's decision to refuse the protection visa.