Basir and Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs (Citizenship)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the application for Australian citizenship by conferral made by Mr Abdul Basir, a stateless Rohingya man born in Burma. The dispute centred on whether Mr Basir could satisfy the identity requirements under paragraph 24(3) of the *Australian Citizenship Act 2007* (Cth), given significant inconsistencies and a lack of verifiable documentation regarding his personal history.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine if Mr Basir had established his identity to the satisfaction of the law, particularly in light of adverse information provided by the Department of Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. This adverse information included discrepancies in his recorded identity and date of birth, the authenticity of a Burmese driver's licence, inconsistencies regarding his residency in Burma, the genuineness of a marriage certificate, and conflicting accounts of his educational background and employment history.

The Tribunal reasoned that Mr Basir, unable to provide official documentation to substantiate his identity, was required to rely on his "life story." However, the Tribunal found that his account lacked sufficient corroboration and contained numerous inconsistencies that strained credulity. While acknowledging Mr Basir's limited English proficiency and education, the Tribunal held that he must bear responsibility for the inaccuracies and inconsistencies in documents submitted to the Department, even if completed by others. The Tribunal noted that the purported official documents, such as the Burmese driver's licence and marriage certificate, were either admitted as false or contained significant discrepancies, and there was no third-party corroboration for any aspect of his life story. The Tribunal ultimately found that Mr Basir had not satisfied the identity requirements under section 24(3) of the Act.