2104739 (Refugee)

The applicant, who was in immigration detention, sought review of a decision not to grant him a protection visa. The dispute concerned whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa under the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth), specifically whether he was a refugee or owed complementary protection. The decision under review was made by the Tribunal, presided over by Member Tamara Hamilton-Noy.

The legal issues before the court were whether the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, and whether effective protection measures were available to him in Vietnam. The court also considered whether there were substantial grounds for believing that, as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of his removal from Australia, the applicant would suffer significant harm, and whether he could obtain protection from Vietnamese authorities or relocate within Vietnam to avoid such harm.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the protection visa. The Tribunal found that the applicant's claims were not for a reason specified in section 5J(1)(a) of the *Migration Act 1958*. Furthermore, the Tribunal was not satisfied that the applicant could not obtain protection from the authorities against lenders, nor that there was a real risk he would suffer significant harm if returned to Vietnam. The Tribunal also noted that the applicant had stated he left Vietnam to make a better life for his family and did not claim to have experienced harm there, but rather feared returning due to an inability to repay a loan. The Tribunal concluded that the applicant did not satisfy the criteria for a protection visa under section 36(2) of the Act.