CQY15 v Minister for Immigration

The applicant, CQY15, sought judicial review of a decision by the Refugee Tribunal (the Tribunal) to affirm the delegate's decision not to grant him a Protection visa. The applicant's claims for protection were based on his alleged relationship with a woman named Tajroo, whose family was described as powerful and influential military commanders, and on his Tajik ethnicity. The Tribunal had considered the applicant's claims and the evidence presented, including a statutory declaration and a letter from Tajroo, before affirming the delegate's decision.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the Tribunal erred in its assessment of the applicant's claims for protection under the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth), specifically concerning the criteria for a Protection visa under the Refugees Convention and complementary protection grounds. The court was required to determine if the Tribunal's findings of fact, particularly its disbelief of the applicant's evidence regarding his relationship with Tajroo, were reasonably open to it on the evidence before it, and if its conclusions followed logically from those findings.

Dowdy J found that the Tribunal had explicitly stated its difficulty in accepting the applicant's truthfulness concerning his relationship with Tajroo, and at paragraph [37] of its Decision Record, concluded that it did not accept the applicant was telling the truth about this relationship. The Tribunal further noted that the applicant had agreed he would not face issues arising from his Tajik ethnicity upon return. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that there was no real chance the applicant would be killed or persecuted for one of the five Convention reasons due to the claimed relationship, nor for reasons of his race as a Tajik. The Tribunal also found that there was no real risk of significant harm for the purposes of section 36(2)(aa) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth).

The application for judicial review was dismissed.