1831968 (Refugee)

The applicant, a member of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal (RPP-N) who supported the monarchy, sought a protection visa. He claimed to fear persecution, including extortion and threats of killing, from the Biplab Maoists and other groups if returned to Nepal due to his political opinions and activities. The decision under review affirmed the refusal of his protection visa application.

The court was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa, specifically whether Australia had protection obligations towards him. This involved assessing whether he had substantial grounds for believing that, as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of being removed from Australia, there was a real risk that he would suffer significant harm. The court also considered the applicant's credibility as a witness, given discrepancies between his initial statutory declaration and his oral evidence provided during the hearing.

The court found the applicant to be not a credible witness. This conclusion was based on significant discrepancies between his statutory declaration and his oral evidence, including new claims made during the hearing about being in hiding and his family being threatened, which were not mentioned in his initial application. The court noted that his statutory declaration detailed his political campaign activities from early 2017, which brought him to the attention of the hard-line Maoists, but did not mention being in hiding or threats to his family. These new claims, made during the Tribunal hearing, undermined his overall credibility.