2107272 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered the protection visa application of a citizen of the Philippines. The applicant claimed to fear harm from Chinese nationals due to his involvement as a police officer in a raid on an illegal online gambling operation in November 2016. He alleged receiving death threats from these individuals, which led him to leave the Philippines and seek protection in Australia.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had established a well-founded fear of persecution or significant harm, thereby meeting the criteria for a protection visa under the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). This involved assessing the credibility of the applicant's claims, the plausibility of his fear, and whether the apprehended harm constituted "significant harm" as defined by the Act, considering the possibility of being removed from Australia to the Philippines.

The Tribunal applied established principles regarding the assessment of credibility and the onus on the applicant to provide sufficient detail to establish his claims. It considered the guidance from cases such as *MIEA v Guo* and *MIMA v Rajalingam*, which outline the need to give the benefit of the doubt to generally credible applicants and to consider the possibility of alleged events occurring even if not proven to a high degree of probability. The Tribunal also had regard to Ministerial Direction No. 84 and relevant guidelines concerning refugee and complementary protection. Despite the applicant's detailed account of the raid and subsequent threats, the Tribunal found that the evidence did not establish a real risk of significant harm. The Tribunal noted that none of the applicant's colleagues involved in the raid had been harmed, and the threats received were general in nature and not directly linked to specific individuals or ongoing legal proceedings.

The Tribunal affirmed the delegate's decision, concluding that the applicant had not satisfied the criteria for the grant of a protection visa.