DQJ18 v Minister for Home Affairs

This matter came before Judge Emmett of the Federal Court of Australia concerning an appeal by the applicant, DQJ18, against a decision of the Refugee Tribunal. The applicant sought protection in Australia, claiming a well-founded fear of persecution in his home country. The Tribunal had accepted the applicant's evidence regarding his experiences of sectarian violence and the real chance of serious harm in his home area. However, the Tribunal ultimately affirmed the Delegate's decision to refuse protection.

The central legal issues before the Court were whether the Refugee Tribunal erred in its assessment of the applicant's fear of persecution and the reasonableness of internal relocation. Specifically, the Court considered whether the Tribunal correctly determined that the risk of persecution did not extend to all areas of the applicant's home country, and whether it was reasonable, in the sense of being practicable, for the applicant to relocate to a different part of Pakistan. The Tribunal's findings on these points were crucial to its overall conclusion regarding the applicant's eligibility for protection.

The Tribunal's reasoning, as summarised, was that while the applicant faced a real risk of harm in his home area, this risk did not apply to all parts of Pakistan. Country information indicated that areas such as Islamabad and Lahore did not present a real chance of persecution. The Tribunal also considered that the applicant would not be particularly noticeable if he relocated due to internal migration and that he could draw on social and cultural support from existing Pashtun Shia communities in those cities. Based on this, the Tribunal concluded that relocation was reasonable and practicable, and therefore the applicant did not have a well-founded fear of persecution for the purposes of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth).