DZAAS v Minister for Immigration and Citizenship

The case of DZAAS v Minister for Immigration and Citizenship involved the appellant, a stateless Faili Kurd, appealing a decision of the Federal Magistrates Court that had refused his application for a protection visa. The appellant contended that he was a citizen of neither Iraq nor Iran, and had fled Iran due to a fear of persecution based on his nationality or imputed nationality, and his membership of a social group, specifically the Faili Kurds in Iran. The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship had power to allow the application for a protection visa if it was considered to be in the public interest, under section 46A(2) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth). The Independent Merits Review process was conducted, and the Reviewer identified serious inconsistencies in the appellant’s evidence, including his claim to have left Iran at the time he asserted. The appellant’s solicitors made submissions on his behalf, asserting that he claimed protection on the basis of his ethnicity, namely that he was Kurdish Faili, stateless and living illegally in Iran. The court had to decide whether the Reviewer was obligated to refer to material which was before him in other cases, and whether the appellant's claim of fear of persecution was credible. The court held that the Reviewer was not obligated to refer to material which was before him in other cases, and that the appellant's claim of fear of persecution was not credible due to the inconsistencies in his evidence. The appeal was dismissed, and the appellant was ordered to pay the Minister's costs of the appeal.