ANC16 v Minister for Immigration

ANC16 (the applicant) sought judicial review of a decision by the Minister for Immigration (the respondent) to refuse to grant a protection visa. The applicant, who was a citizen of Afghanistan, claimed to have been persecuted in their home country due to their gender and their perceived association with a political party. The application was heard in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the applicant had established a well-founded fear of persecution for a Convention reason, specifically for reasons of gender and political opinion, as required by s 36(2)(a) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). This involved assessing the applicant's subjective fear and the objective reasonableness of that fear, considering the country information relating to Afghanistan.

Judge Riley found that the applicant's subjective fear of persecution was genuine. However, the Court determined that the objective evidence did not support a finding that the applicant's fear was reasonable. While acknowledging the difficult situation for women in Afghanistan, the Court concluded that the specific circumstances described by the applicant, when assessed against the available country information, did not demonstrate a real chance of persecution for a Convention reason. The Court applied the principles established in cases such as *Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs v Teoh* and *Applicant A v Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs*, focusing on the objective assessment of risk.

The application for judicial review was dismissed.