1914576 (Refugee)

This matter concerned an application for review of a decision by a delegate of the Minister for Immigration to cancel the applicant's Subclass 866 (Protection) visa under section 109(1) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). The applicant, a national of Iraq, had been granted a protection visa in January 2013. The visa was cancelled in April 2018 on the basis that the applicant had provided incorrect information in his visa application. The matter had previously been remitted to the Tribunal by the Federal Circuit Court of Australia for reconsideration.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the ground for cancellation, namely the provision of incorrect information in the visa application, was made out. If this ground was established, the Tribunal was then required to consider whether the visa should be cancelled. The Tribunal also considered the applicant's claims of fear of harm upon return to Iraq due to his Sunni Muslim faith and the sectarian violence prevalent in the country.

The Tribunal found that the applicant had provided incorrect information in his protection visa application and accompanying statutory declaration. Specifically, the Tribunal rejected the applicant's claims of being pursued, targeted, detained, mistreated, and threatened by Shia militia and other groups. The Tribunal accepted that the applicant was a Sunni Muslim but found that, based on available country information, there was nothing about the applicant's personal profile, beyond his brother's circumstances, to suggest he would face a real risk of harm from Shia groups in the southern governorates of Iraq. The Tribunal concluded that the notice issued under section 107 of the Act complied with statutory requirements and that the delegate had reached the necessary state of mind to engage section 107.

The Tribunal affirmed the delegate's decision to cancel the applicant's protection visa.