1818946 (Refugee)

This matter concerned an application for a protection visa by a citizen of Vietnam. The applicant claimed he would face persecution in Vietnam due to his homosexual identity, and also sought complementary protection. The decision was made by Peter Katsambanis.

The court was required to determine two primary issues. Firstly, whether there was a real chance that the applicant would be persecuted in Vietnam for one of the five reasons specified in section 5J(1)(a) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) for the purposes of section 36(2)(a). Secondly, if the applicant did not meet the refugee criterion, whether there were substantial grounds for believing that, as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of his removal to Vietnam, he faced a real risk of suffering significant harm, pursuant to section 36(2)(aa).

The court considered the applicant's claims and the evidence provided, including a statutory declaration detailing his homosexual relationship and his intention to seek protection on the basis of his sexual orientation and complementary protection. The court noted that the applicant had returned to Vietnam once since arriving in Australia in January 2015. The court found that the applicant did not satisfy the criterion in section 36(2) of the Act.