1916631 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (the Tribunal) reviewed a decision by a delegate of the Minister for Home Affairs to refuse protection visas to the applicants. The applicants, who identify their religion as Christian (Catholic) and are farmers from Fiji, claimed they faced threats and harm from non-state agents, including drug traffickers and violent gangs, and that their drinking water had been poisoned. They asserted that authorities in Fiji had never provided assistance and that relocation within Fiji was not a viable option.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicants met the criteria for a protection visa under section 36 of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). This required determining if they were refugees with a well-founded fear of persecution, or if they faced a real risk of significant harm as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of removal from Australia, thereby engaging Australia's protection obligations under section 36(2)(a) or (aa) respectively. The Tribunal also considered the availability of effective protection measures within Fiji.

The Tribunal found that the applicants did not have a well-founded fear of persecution. It noted credibility concerns and observed that the Fiji Police Force is generally considered professional and capable of protecting individuals from societal harassment and violence, with corruption not being widespread. The Tribunal concluded that the applicants had not established that they would suffer significant harm upon return to Fiji, nor that effective protection measures were unavailable.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the delegate's decision not to grant the protection visas, finding that the applicants did not satisfy the criteria set out in section 36(2)(a) or (aa) of the *Migration Act 1958*.