1807317 (Refugee)

This matter concerned an application for review of a delegate's decision to refuse the applicant, a Sunni Muslim national of Lebanon, a protection visa. The applicant claimed she had experienced domestic violence from a former partner, an Alawi Muslim, in Lebanon. She alleged this violence included threats, stalking, and physical assault, and that her former partner was connected to a prominent local figure.

The court was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa under section 36 of the Migration Act 1958. Specifically, it needed to assess if she was a person in respect of whom Australia had protection obligations under the Refugees Convention, or alternatively, if she met the complementary protection criterion due to a real risk of significant harm upon removal from Australia.

The Tribunal found that the applicant's claims of personal harm were not related to any Convention reasons, such as race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion. It noted that the incidents of violence occurred in 2012, and that there was no evidence to suggest the perpetrator was still motivated to harm the applicant or that the passage of time had not diminished any such motivation. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant did not satisfy the criteria for a protection visa.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa.