1826501 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the protection visa application of Mr A, a national of Vietnam. Mr A failed to attend his scheduled hearing before the Tribunal, and consequently, the Tribunal made its decision based on the information available in his file. Mr A had minimal engagement with the Tribunal since lodging his application in September 2018, including failing to respond to a letter inquiring about his potential withdrawal of the application. He had not provided any further submissions or documentary evidence to support his original claims.

The legal issues before the Tribunal were whether Mr A met the criteria for a protection visa, specifically whether he had a well-founded fear of persecution or a real risk of suffering significant harm if returned to Vietnam. The Tribunal was required to determine if Mr A had provided sufficient particulars and evidence to establish his claims, as per section 5AAA of the Migration Act 1958. This included assessing whether Vietnam could provide effective protection to Mr A and whether any risk of harm was faced by the population generally rather than personally by Mr A.

The Tribunal reasoned that it was Mr A's responsibility to provide sufficient evidence to support his claims, and he had failed to do so. His claims centred on the Vietnamese education system's restrictions on freedom of speech and association, and the perceived danger of fighting for human rights in Vietnam. However, without his attendance at the hearing or any further evidence, the Tribunal could not be satisfied that Mr A had a well-founded fear of persecution or a real risk of significant harm. The Tribunal noted that under section 36(2B)(b) of the Act, a real risk of significant harm is not taken to exist if the applicant could obtain protection from an authority of the country. Given Mr A's lack of engagement and evidence, the Tribunal found that he had not satisfied the criteria for a protection visa.

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