1920956 (Refugee)

The applicant, a Thai national, sought a protection visa in Australia. The dispute concerned whether the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution in Thailand based on one of the five prescribed reasons, or alternatively, whether there were substantial grounds to believe that removal from Australia to Thailand would result in a real risk of significant harm. The Tribunal considered the applicant's claims, which included experiencing unemployment and depression in Thailand, leading to his decision to come to Australia.

The legal issues before the Tribunal were to determine if the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa under section 36(2)(a) of the Migration Act 1958, by having a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion. If this criterion was not met, the Tribunal was required to consider whether the applicant satisfied the complementary protection criterion under section 36(2)(aa), which involves assessing the real risk of significant harm upon removal from Australia.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the protection visa. It reasoned that the applicant's claims of general economic conditions, unemployment, and depression in Thailand did not amount to persecution for one of the five specified reasons. Furthermore, the Tribunal found no substantial grounds to believe that the applicant would suffer significant harm as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of being removed to Thailand, as such risks were not personal to the applicant but rather general to the population. The Tribunal also noted that the applicant did not satisfy the criterion under section 36(2) as a member of the same family unit as a person who held a protection visa.