AKR17 v Minister for Home Affairs

The appellant, a Tamil male from Sri Lanka, appealed against the decision of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia which dismissed his application for judicial review of a decision of the Immigration Assessment Authority (IAA) to refuse him a visa. The appellant claimed to fear persecution if he returned to Sri Lanka because of his Tamil ethnicity and his perceived profile as a supporter of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The IAA concluded that the appellant did not have a real or imputed LTTE profile and therefore did not have a well-founded fear of persecution. The appellant argued that the IAA erred in concluding that he did not have a real or imputed LTTE profile and failed to consider the possibility that it was wrong. The central legal issue before the court was whether the IAA had a “real doubt” about its conclusion that the appellant did not have a real or imputed LTTE profile and whether it erred in failing to consider the possibility that it was wrong.

The court found that the IAA did not have a real doubt about its conclusion. The court examined the IAA’s reasons and found that it accepted that there were reports of Tamils and returned asylum seekers being mistreated, but only where they had an actual or imputed profile of LTTE links. The court held that the IAA’s reasons did not indicate that it had a doubt to the effect that there might also have been mistreatment even where there was no actual or imputed profile of LTTE links or that it otherwise had any other real doubt about the conclusion it reached. The court also held that the IAA did not err in failing to consider the possibility that it was wrong because there was no evidence to suggest that the IAA’s conclusion was unreasonable or irrational.

The appeal was dismissed with costs. The appellant was ordered to pay the first respondent’s costs as agreed or assessed.