1730424 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the protection visa claims of an applicant, who arrived in Australia as an unlawful maritime arrival in December 2011. The applicant, of Tamil ethnicity from Sri Lanka, claimed to fear persecution due to his suspected involvement with the LTTE, his failure to report to the army as required, and the general ill-treatment of Tamils by Sri Lankan authorities. The Tribunal also considered the application of his daughter, who was found to be a member of the same family unit.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were the credibility of the applicant's claims and whether, on the accepted claims, the criteria for a protection visa were met. Specifically, the Tribunal had to determine if the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, membership of a particular social group, or imputed political opinion, and if Australia had protection obligations towards him. The Tribunal also needed to assess whether the applicant's daughter met the criteria for a protection visa as a member of the applicant's family unit.

The Tribunal concluded that the matter should be remitted for reconsideration. While it was satisfied that the applicant's daughter met the criteria for a protection visa as a member of the same family unit as the applicant, it was not satisfied that the applicant himself met the criteria under s 36(2)(a) or (aa) of the *Migration Act 1958*. The Tribunal directed that the applicant be found to satisfy s 36(2)(a) and his daughter s 36(2)(b)(i) of the Act, indicating that the daughter's entitlement to a visa would depend on the applicant's application being successful following reconsideration.