2315472 (Refugee)

This matter concerned an application for review of a delegate's decision to refuse a Protection visa to a national of Vanuatu. The applicant arrived in Australia in September 2022 and lodged his Protection visa application in August 2023. The delegate refused the application under section 65 of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth), finding that the applicant had not established a real chance or real risk of suffering serious or significant harm upon return to Vanuatu, and therefore Australia did not owe him protection obligations.

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for the grant of a Protection visa, specifically whether he was a refugee or a person in respect of whom Australia had protection obligations under section 36(2)(a) or (aa) of the Act. This involved assessing the credibility of the applicant's claims regarding debt, threats from a loan shark and his friend's family, and alleged physical assaults. The Tribunal also considered new claims made by the applicant at the hearing concerning threats from a former girlfriend's family due to a new relationship formed in Australia.

The Tribunal affirmed the delegate's decision, concluding that the applicant's evidence was neither reliable nor credible. This conclusion was based on significant shifts and inconsistencies in his evidence throughout the process, including the introduction of entirely new claims at the hearing that were inconsistent with his original application. The applicant provided vague and contradictory explanations for these discrepancies, including suggesting he had previously claimed a cyclone as a reason for protection and that he wanted to work in Australia. He also presented a different narrative regarding a loan, stating he had borrowed money to build a house and intended to repay it, without claiming to have been harmed or to fear harm in connection with it.

Consequently, the Tribunal found that the applicant did not satisfy the criterion in section 36(2) of the *Migration Act 1958*. The decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa was affirmed.