2101519 (Refugee)

The applicant, an Ethiopian citizen of Tigrayan ethnicity, sought review of a delegate's decision to refuse a protection visa. The delegate had not been satisfied that the applicant faced a real chance of serious harm. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), differently constituted, had affirmed this decision, but that decision was subsequently remitted by the Federal Circuit Court due to a jurisdictional error. The error was the failure to consider the applicant's claim of fearing harm based on his Tigrayan ethnicity. The applicant later abandoned all claims except for this one.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had established a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of his ethnicity, specifically Tigrayan, such that Australia would have protection obligations towards him. This required the Tribunal to assess the current country situation in Ethiopia, particularly concerning Tigrayans, and determine if there was a real chance of the applicant suffering significant harm if returned. The Tribunal also had to consider the principles of state protection and internal relocation in the context of the applicant's ethnicity.

The Tribunal reasoned that despite a peace agreement being signed between the Ethiopian government and the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front in November 2022, the situation remained fragile. The Tribunal considered evidence indicating that systematic and discriminatory conduct against Tigrayans persisted, even after the peace agreement. It found that the applicant's ethnicity placed him within a group that had been and continued to be subject to targeted harm. The Tribunal concluded that the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution based on his Tigrayan ethnicity, and that neither state protection nor internal relocation would be effective in preventing such harm.

The Tribunal set aside the delegate's decision and remitted the matter to the delegate with a direction that a protection visa be granted.