2401502 (Refugee)

The applicant sought review of a decision by a delegate of the Minister for Home Affairs to refuse to grant a protection visa. The applicant claimed to have fled Vanuatu due to ongoing attacks and harm from supporters of a losing political candidate, alleging he was targeted for his role as a campaign manager for the winning candidate and for reporting election rigging. He asserted he had been assaulted, tortured, and nearly killed, and that attempts to seek safety within Vanuatu were unsuccessful, leading to further harm and a fear of being located and killed.

The court was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa under the Migration Act 1958 (Cth). Specifically, the court needed to assess if the applicant was a refugee with a well-founded fear of persecution, or if he faced a real risk of significant harm as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of removal to Vanuatu, thereby engaging Australia's protection obligations under section 36(2)(a) or (aa) of the Act.

During the hearing, the applicant stated that the claims made in his protection visa application, which had been prepared by a representative, were entirely false and did not reflect his true circumstances. He confirmed that he had not signed the application and had no knowledge of its contents until he received correspondence regarding it. The court noted that the applicant did not satisfy the refugee criterion under s 36(2)(a) and, based on the applicant's evidence that the claims in the application were fabricated, found that he also did not satisfy the complementary protection criterion under s 36(2)(aa).

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the delegate's decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa.