1907790 (Refugee)

This matter concerned an application for a protection visa by a citizen of Bangladesh. The applicant arrived in Australia by sea in January 2013 and subsequently applied for a Safe Haven Enterprise Visa (SHEV). A delegate of the Minister refused to grant this visa, a decision that was affirmed by the Immigration Assessment Authority (IAA). The applicant sought further review, and following a Full Federal Court decision regarding the applicant's arrival status, the matter proceeded to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) for review of the original refusal. The applicant later lodged a second SHEV application.

The core legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution and whether Australia owed him protection under the refugee or complementary protection criteria. This required the Tribunal to assess the applicant's credibility and the veracity of his claims regarding past political activity with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and subsequent harassment by the Awami League, which he alleged led to the death of his cousin and the closure of his family's shop.

The Tribunal found that while the applicant was a national of Bangladesh, his claims were not well-founded. Despite some minor discrepancies in identity documents, the Tribunal accepted his nationality. However, the Tribunal did not accept that the applicant had been politically active in Bangladesh in the past or that he had a well-founded fear of persecution. The Tribunal noted that the applicant had provided inconsistent information regarding his past activities and the reasons for leaving Bangladesh, and ultimately concluded that the applicant was not a credible witness and had fabricated claims. The Tribunal applied the principle that an applicant bears the responsibility to establish their claim and that the Tribunal is not obliged to make the case for them or accept all allegations uncritically.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision to refuse the protection visa.