Minister for Immigration and Border Protection v SZSCA

The Minister for Immigration and Border Protection appealed to the High Court of Australia against a decision of the Full Federal Court, which had set aside a decision of the Refugee Review Tribunal. The Tribunal had affirmed the delegate's refusal to grant the applicant, SZSCA, a protection visa. SZSCA claimed to face persecution by the Taliban, but the Tribunal found that any risk of persecution would only arise if SZSCA travelled outside Kabul, a risk that could be avoided by remaining within the city.

The High Court was required to determine whether the Refugee Review Tribunal had erred in its assessment of SZSCA's claim for a protection visa. Specifically, the Court considered whether the Tribunal had fallen into the error identified in *Appellant S395/2002 v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs* (2003) 216 CLR 473, which concerns the application of the "internal relocation principle". This involved examining whether the Tribunal had failed to adequately address whether it would be reasonable to expect SZSCA to remain in Kabul to avoid persecution.

The Court reasoned that the Tribunal's approach had conflated the question of whether a person could avoid persecution by relocating internally with the question of whether it would be reasonable to expect them to do so. The Tribunal had found that SZSCA could avoid persecution by remaining in Kabul, but it had not considered whether it would be reasonable to expect SZSCA to live discreetly within Kabul, or whether remaining in Kabul would expose SZSCA to a real chance of persecution. The Court held that the Tribunal had failed to properly apply the principles established in *Appellant S395/2002*, particularly concerning the assessment of whether a person could reasonably be expected to relocate internally.

The appeal was dismissed with costs.