DG v Refugee Status Appeals Authority

In this case the plaintiff, an Indonesian citizen of Chinese ethnic origin, sought to challenge the decision of the Refugee Status Appeals Authority that she was not entitled to refugee status. The plaintiff sought to argue that the Authority had erred in its interpretation of the word "persecuted" under the Refugee Convention, and that the Authority had also erred in its determination of whether there was a "well founded fear" of being persecuted. The court considered these arguments and ultimately found that the plaintiff's application for review should be dismissed. The court noted that while the Authority had made some errors in its interpretation of the law, these errors did not materially affect its ultimate decision. The court found that the plaintiff had not suffered persecution in Indonesia, and that even if she had, there was no real chance that she would be at risk of persecution if she returned to Jakarta. The court held that the plaintiff had not established a well founded fear of being persecuted within the meaning of the Refugee Convention, and therefore her application for refugee status should be denied.