RYTV and Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs (Migration)

The applicant, RYTV, sought review of a decision by a delegate of the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs to refuse to grant him a Bridging E (Class WE) visa. The refusal was based on the applicant failing to pass the character test under section 501(1) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). The Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant failed the character test and, if so, whether to exercise the discretion under section 501(1) to refuse the visa.

The applicant conceded that there was sufficient evidence to suggest his involvement in crimes against humanity, thereby failing the character test under section 501(6)(ba)(iii) of the Act. The central legal issue for the Tribunal was therefore whether to exercise the discretion to refuse the visa, having regard to Direction 90, which mandates consideration of factors such as international non-refoulement obligations, impediments to removal, impact on victims, and links to the Australian community. The Tribunal noted that the applicant, a citizen of Turkey who had been in Australia since 2010, had no family in Australia and faced no chronological endpoint to his detention.

In its reasoning, the Tribunal found that the applicant's complicity in crimes against humanity, specifically through his role as an informer for the Jandarma and his support for JITEM's activities, was established by strong and convincing evidence. The Tribunal considered the applicant's awareness that his information would lead to harm and death, and his continued involvement despite this knowledge, as demonstrating the requisite intent to assist in JITEM's campaign of terror. Weighing the considerations for and against granting the visa, and giving primary considerations greater weight as required by Direction 90, the Tribunal concluded that the factors favouring refusal outweighed those against it.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the delegate's decision to refuse the Bridging E visa.