Eyg18 v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs

The appellant, a Hazara Shia Muslim from Afghanistan, appealed against the refusal of his application for a safe haven enterprise visa by the delegate of the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. The appellant argued that the Immigration Assessment Authority had failed to consider obtaining information from him regarding his claims of persecution based on his religious beliefs and practices, or lack thereof. The Federal Circuit Court of Australia dismissed the appeal, finding that the Authority had not unreasonably failed to consider exercising its power to obtain new information under section 473DC of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth). The court held that the Authority had given careful consideration to the appellant's claims of being non-practising and not religious, but did not find that his religious belief had evolved to a point of abandonment. The Authority concluded that the appellant did not face a real chance of harm in Afghanistan due to his religious beliefs or lack thereof.

The court noted that the power to obtain new information under the Act is subject to the condition that it is exercised within the bounds of reasonableness. The court distinguished the present case from CRY16, where the Full Court of the Federal Circuit Court had found a jurisdictional error in the Authority's failure to consider exercising the power to obtain new information. In the present case, the Authority had acknowledged and considered the appellant's claims of being non-practising and not religious, and did not disable itself from considering any of the appellant's claims on review according to law. The court also noted that the Minister did not rely on a particular finding as a separate isolated issue, but rather as part of the overall reasons for the decision.

The court dismissed the appeal and ordered that the appellant pay the first respondent's costs of the appeal, as agreed or assessed. The name of the first respondent was also corrected from 'Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs' to 'Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs'. The court granted the appellant leave to rely on his amended notice of appeal dated 23 February 2022.