GQVS and Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (the Tribunal) was asked to consider whether to revoke the mandatory cancellation of the applicant's Class BA Subclass 200 Refugee visa. The cancellation had been mandated under section 501(3A) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) due to the applicant possessing a substantial criminal record. The applicant sought revocation of this cancellation, arguing that it would be contrary to Australia's non-refoulement obligations under international law.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant would be owed non-refoulement obligations if returned to their country of origin. This required the Tribunal to assess the risk of the applicant suffering persecution or serious harm, as defined by international refugee law, should the visa cancellation remain in effect and the applicant be removed from Australia.

The Tribunal found that the applicant had established a real chance of suffering persecution for reasons of race and imputed political opinion if returned to their country of origin. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that revoking the visa cancellation was necessary to avoid breaching Australia's non-refoulement obligations. The decision under review, which refused to revoke the cancellation, was therefore set aside.