APP18 v Minister for Home Affairs

APP18 (the applicant) sought judicial review of a decision by the Minister for Home Affairs (the respondent) to refuse to grant the applicant a Protection visa. The applicant, who had arrived in Australia by boat, claimed to fear persecution in their country of origin due to their membership of a particular social group. The matter came before Judge Young in the Federal Court of Australia.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the applicant's claimed fear of persecution was well-founded, specifically concerning their membership in a particular social group. This required the Court to consider the criteria for the grant of a Protection visa under the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) and the relevant case law concerning the definition of a "particular social group" in the context of international refugee law. The Court also had to assess whether the Minister's delegate had properly considered all the evidence presented by the applicant and applied the correct legal principles in reaching their decision.

Judge Young's reasoning focused on the interpretation of "particular social group" as established in previous jurisprudence. The Court found that the applicant's asserted group, based on their shared experience of having been returned to their country of origin by Australian authorities, did not constitute a "particular social group" for the purposes of the *Migration Act*. The Court held that the shared characteristic of having been returned was not an immutable characteristic or a characteristic that was fundamental to the identity of the members of the group, nor was it a characteristic that was inherent to their identity in a way that would attract the protection of the Refugee Convention. Consequently, the Court concluded that the applicant had not established a well-founded fear of persecution based on membership of a particular social group.

The application for judicial review was dismissed.