1824165 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered the protection visa applications of a mother and her two children, who were born in Australia. The mother, who was born in Vietnam, claimed she feared harm and potential death if returned to Vietnam, stating her family needed her in Australia and that the Vietnamese government would not protect her. Her son, the second applicant, was claimed to be stateless as he had not been registered with Vietnamese authorities.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicants were persons in respect of whom Australia owed protection obligations, specifically whether they met the criteria for a protection visa under section 36(2)(a) or (aa) of the Migration Act 1958. This required determining if the mother had a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons outlined in section 5J of the Act, or if there were substantial grounds to believe they would suffer significant harm as a consequence of removal from Australia.

The Tribunal reasoned that the applicants had failed to provide sufficient detail to substantiate their claims. The mother's assertions about being harmed and facing death in Vietnam were vague, lacking information about the perpetrator, the reasons for the threat, or why she believed she would remain at risk. Similarly, her claims regarding the government's inability to protect her and her inability to relocate were unsubstantiated. The Tribunal emphasised that it is the applicant's responsibility to specify the particulars of their claim and provide supporting evidence, and that a decision-maker is not obliged to construct the case for the applicant. The lack of detail regarding the son's statelessness and any feared harm in that regard was also noted.

Consequently, the Tribunal was not satisfied that any of the applicants met the criteria for a protection visa. The decision under review, which refused the protection visas, was affirmed.