1910307 (Refugee)

The applicant, a man from South Sudan, sought a protection visa after his previous humanitarian visa was cancelled on character grounds due to criminal convictions in Australia. The dispute before the Tribunal concerned whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa, specifically the refugee criterion and, alternatively, the complementary protection criterion.

The legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, and whether he was stateless. The Tribunal was also required to consider if the applicant was entitled to complementary protection, meaning whether there were substantial grounds for believing that, as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of removal from Australia, he would suffer significant harm.

The Tribunal reasoned that the applicant's claim of statelessness was not substantiated, as he was born in South Sudan and his family originated there, indicating he was a national of South Sudan under its laws. Furthermore, his claims of fearing persecution due to being perceived as wealthy from Australia were found to be vague and unsupported by evidence. The Tribunal also noted that the applicant had not established membership in a particular social group that would entitle him to protection. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant did not meet the refugee criterion.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa, finding that he had not satisfied the requirements for either the refugee criterion or the complementary protection criterion.