Wannakuwattewa, Bernard Reginald Fernando v The Minister for Immigration & Ethnic Affairs & Anor [1996] FCA 697

IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA VICTORIA DISTRICT REGISTRY GENERAL DIVISION No VG 451 of 1994 B E T W E E N : BERNARD REGINALD FERNANDO WANNAKUWATTEWA Applicant AND THE MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND ETHNIC AFFAIRS First Respondent AND REFUGEE REVIEW TRIBUNAL (constituted by JOHN VRACHNAS) Second Respondent JUDGE: North J PLACE: Melbourne DATE: 24 June 1996 EX TEMPORE REASONS FOR JUDGMENT I propose to deliver judgment immediately in this case. The applicant is a Sri Lankan who entered Australia on 15 April 1990. On 3 October 1990, he applied for refugee status. On 24 January 1994, his application was rejected by the delegate of the Minister for Immigration, the first respondent. On 21 February 1994, he instituted an application for review of the decision of the first respondent to the Refugee Review Tribunal, the second respondent ("the Tribunal"). On 22 November 1994, the Tribunal gave its decision and, on 16 December 1994, the applicant instituted this application for review of the decision of the Tribunal.

The applicant's case before the Tribunal was that he was associated with the JVP which is the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, a Marxist oriented pro-Singhalese party opposed to the then Government. He claimed that he had donated money to the JVP, provided publicity material for it, and had been forced into co-operating with some of its activities in Sri Lanka. At the forefront of his case, he claimed to have participated in the murder of a well-known Sri Lankan TV personality, Mr Premakirthi de Alwis. He claimed that, shortly after the murder of Mr de Alwis, a suspect of the murder with whom he had acted had been detained, and he feared that the Security Forces were made aware of his involvement in the murder by that suspect. He claimed that, consequently, he and his wife went into hiding to escape from the scrutiny of the Security Forces. He claimed that the Security Forces pursued his relatives and, at one stage, detained his brother in law as part of the search for him. He further claimed that in order to escape from this harassment he paid a large amount to procure a passport out of Sri Lanka. At some later time, he alleged that another brother in law had been assassinated by reason of his association with the applicant. The applicant's case involved the proposition that he had a well-founded fear of the JVP by reason of the fact that it would see him as having, in effect, deserted their cause by escaping from Sri Lanka. He claimed that the JVP retained an influence in Sri Lanka and would be a dangerous threat to him if he returned. At the same time, the applicant claimed that he feared persecution from the Security Forces loyal to the Government in that they would seek him out in order to punish him for his involvement in the murder of Mr de Alwis.