1914687 (Refugee)

The applicant, a national of China, sought a protection visa in Australia. He claimed to have borrowed money from a loan shark and was unable to repay the debt, leading to threats of violence and death. He asserted that Chinese authorities were unable to provide him with protection and that he could not relocate within China to escape the loan shark. The decision under review affirmed the refusal of his protection visa application.

The central legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution for one of the five prescribed reasons under section 5J of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth), or alternatively, whether there were substantial grounds for believing that, as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of his removal to China, he faced a real risk of suffering significant harm. The Tribunal was required to consider the applicant's claims in light of relevant country information and the provisions of the Act concerning refugee status and complementary protection.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision to refuse the protection visa. It found that the applicant had not established a well-founded fear of persecution for any of the reasons outlined in section 5J of the Act. Furthermore, the Tribunal concluded that there were no substantial grounds to believe that the applicant would suffer significant harm upon removal to China, as contemplated by section 36(2)(aa) of the Act. The applicant did not satisfy the criteria for the grant of a protection visa.