1913114 (Refugee)

This case concerned an application for review of a decision by the Minister for Home Affairs to refuse a protection visa. The applicant, who identified as a female Buddhist of Siamese ethnicity, claimed she feared harm in Malaysia from a former colleague who had become hostile after she refused his marriage proposal. The applicant alleged this individual had threatened to kill her and had strong connections with authorities and secret groups, leading her to flee Malaysia.

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa under section 36 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth). Specifically, the Tribunal had to assess whether the applicant was a refugee due to a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, or membership of a particular social group, or whether she faced a real risk of significant harm as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of removal to Malaysia under the complementary protection criterion.

The Tribunal affirmed the delegate's decision, concluding that the applicant had not established a real risk of significant harm in Malaysia. While acknowledging the applicant's detailed account of past mistreatment and discrimination based on her ethnicity and religion, the Tribunal found that these experiences did not meet the threshold for persecution or significant harm as defined by the Act. The Tribunal also considered the applicant's fear of a specific individual but was not satisfied that this fear, in the circumstances presented, constituted a well-founded fear of persecution or a real risk of significant harm that Malaysia could not protect her from. The Tribunal noted that the applicant had not demonstrated that she could not obtain protection from Malaysian authorities or that relocation within Malaysia was unreasonable.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa, finding that she did not satisfy the criteria under section 36 of the Migration Act.