1915886 (Refugee)

The applicant, a white South African national, sought review of a decision by the Minister to refuse to grant a protection visa. The applicant claimed to fear persecution in South Africa due to financial difficulties arising from a debt owed to a loan shark. The applicant argued that their race, being white South African, would exacerbate the risks associated with this debt.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution for a reason specified in section 5(1) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth), specifically for reasons of race. This required the court to assess the applicant's credibility and the objective likelihood of harm amounting to persecution.

The court found that while the applicant had indeed incurred debts, there had been no recent issues or threats from the loan shark. Furthermore, the court identified credibility concerns regarding the applicant's account of the situation. Applying the principles of assessing a well-founded fear of persecution, the court concluded that the applicant had not established a real chance of suffering harm amounting to persecution. The court determined that the financial struggles, in the absence of credible threats or evidence of targeted harm due to race, did not meet the threshold for protection.

The decision under review was affirmed.