2009636 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by a Fijian national. The applicant claimed to have been detained and tortured in 2009 following his presence at the Fijian parliament building during the 2000 coup, and that he feared returning to Fiji due to ongoing police attention. The applicant also sought a delay in proceedings due to medical issues.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa, specifically whether he had a well-founded fear of persecution or faced a real risk of significant harm if returned to Fiji. This involved assessing the credibility of his claims regarding past torture and his current fears, as well as considering the significant delay in his application for protection. The Tribunal also had to consider the applicant's medical condition and his request for a hearing delay.

The Tribunal found that while the applicant had provided evidence of medical conditions, these did not incapacitate him from participating in a hearing. Regarding his protection claims, the Tribunal noted the applicant arrived in Australia in 2011 and remained unlawfully until 2019, only applying for a protection visa after meeting a friend who assisted him. The Tribunal concluded that the applicant's claims of past torture and subsequent fear of police were not sufficiently substantiated to meet the criteria for a protection visa under section 36(2)(a) or the complementary protection criterion under section 36(2)(aa) of the Migration Act 1958.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa.