1829174 (Refugee)

The applicant sought review of a decision to refuse his application for a protection visa. The applicant, of Indonesian Chinese ethnicity, claimed to fear persecution in Indonesia due to his race and his atheist beliefs, citing past violence against ethnic Chinese in Jakarta and ongoing discrimination. He also argued that he would be unable to access adequate and affordable healthcare in Indonesia for his medical conditions, which he claimed would constitute significant harm.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa under the Migration Act 1958 (Cth). Specifically, the court needed to assess whether the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race or religion, or whether there were substantial grounds for believing that he would suffer significant harm, including denial of access to basic services, as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of removal to Indonesia. The Tribunal also considered whether effective protection measures were available to the applicant in Indonesia.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision to refuse the protection visa. It found that the applicant had not established a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race or religion, nor had he demonstrated a real risk of suffering significant harm upon return to Indonesia. The Tribunal was not satisfied that the applicant's claims regarding discrimination, threats, or denial of healthcare in Indonesia were sufficiently substantiated to meet the threshold for protection obligations under the Act. Consequently, the applicant did not satisfy the criteria for a protection visa.