2417122 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal reviewed a decision concerning a family unit from Tonga who sought protection visas. The primary applicant claimed he was unable to reside in Tonga due to threats and physical harm from his older brothers concerning family land. He stated he had travelled to Australia for seasonal work since 2013 to escape these issues and had remained in Australia since 2019 due to fear of his brothers and extended family members. The Tribunal considered the migration records of the applicants, which indicated multiple trips between Tonga and Australia between 2012 and 2023, with the primary applicant returning to Tonga in January 2023 and subsequently returning to Australia. The application for protection visas was lodged almost nine months after this last return.

The legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the applicants met the criteria for a protection visa under section 36 of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). Specifically, the Tribunal had to determine if the primary 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 Tonga. The Tribunal also considered whether the applicants were excluded from Australia's protection obligations under section 36(3) of the Act.

The Tribunal found that the applicants did not satisfy the criteria for a protection visa. It noted that the primary applicant's migration history, including his return to Tonga in January 2023, contradicted his claim of being unable to reside there. The Tribunal was not satisfied that the applicants had a well-founded fear of persecution or that they were excluded from Australia's protection obligations. The Tribunal also noted that the applicants did not satisfy section 36(2) of the Act by being members of the same family unit as a person who already held a protection visa.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicants Protection visas.