2009792 (Refugee)

The Tribunal considered an application for protection visas made by a Fijian national and his family. The primary applicant claimed that if he returned to Fiji, he would be denied employment and income, leading to his family's destitution. He also alleged that his objections to a lenient jail sentence for his brother's murderer, who was a military officer, had made his work environment untenable and that he feared harm due to his family history involving the military. The other applicants did not raise independent claims.

The legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the applicants had a well-founded fear of persecution for a Convention reason, whether they were owed complementary protection, or if they were members of the same family unit as a person who qualified for protection. Specifically, the Tribunal had to determine if the applicant's claimed fear of economic hardship and the consequences of his brother's murder constituted persecution under the Migration Act 1958 (Cth).

The Tribunal accepted that the applicant's brother had been murdered and that a soldier was convicted for the crime. However, it found no evidence that the applicant's objections to the sentence were widely known or had made his work environment impossible. The Tribunal also noted that the applicant continued to work for 20 years after his brother's death and only resigned to come to Australia on a 457 visa when his employer declined to fund his permanent residency. The Tribunal concluded that the applicant had not established a well-founded fear of persecution or a real risk of significant harm upon return to Fiji, nor did it accept that he would be denied employment in a manner that threatened his capacity to subsist.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the protection visas. The Tribunal noted that the applicants could still make a request directly to the Minister.