Hamid, Yahya v The Minister for Immigration & Multicultural Affairs [1998] FCA 1617

IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

NEW SOUTH WALES DISTRICT REGISTRY NG 960 of 1998

BETWEEN: YAHYA HAMID

Applicant

AND: THE MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS

Respondent

JUDGE: heLY J

DATE OF ORDER: 16 DECEMBER 1998

WHERE MADE: SYDNEY

THE COURT ORDERS THAT: 1. The application is dismissed with costs. Note: Settlement and entry of orders is dealt with in Order 36 of the Federal Court Rules.

IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

NEW SOUTH WALES DISTRICT REGISTRY NG 960 of 1998

BETWEEN: YAHYA HAMID

Applicant

AND: THE MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS

Respondent

JUDGE: HELY J

DATE: 16 DECEMBER 1998

PLACE: SYDNEY

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT HELY J: The applicant is a citizen of Sudan, who arrived in Australia on 9 August 1996. On 4 November 1996 he applied for a protection visa. The ground of his application was that he fears being killed if he is returned to Sudan as he is a communist, and as a communist his politics are opposed to those of the ruling government. The position prior to the applicant's departure for India The applicant claimed to have joined the Sudan Communist Party ("SCP") whilst at secondary school, and to have been active in distributing the official communist newspaper, and in organising meetings. The fundamentalist Islamic coup, as a result of which the National Islamic Front came to power, occurred on 29 June 1989. He claimed to have been arrested immediately after the coup, but that he was released after informing the prison authorities that he was going to India to study. The only specific finding of Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) in relation to this claim is (page 15): "I find it implausible that a well known, self-professed communist could secure release from detention immediately after the 1989 fundamentalist Islamic coup by simply saying he was going overseas to study."