Hossain v Minister for Immigration & Multicultural Affairs [2000] FCA 1883

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Hossain v Minister for Immigration & Multicultural Affairs [2000] FCA 1883

MOHAMMAD DALOWER HOSSAIN v MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS NO N 593 2000 O'LOUGHLIN J 13 OCTOBER 2000 SYDNEY

IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

NEW SOUTH WALES DISTRICT REGISTRY N 593 OF 2000

BETWEEN: MOHAMMAD DALOWER HOSSAIN

APPLICANT

AND: MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS

RESPONDENT

JUDGE: O'LOUGHLIN J

DATE OF ORDER: 13 OCTOBER 2000

WHERE MADE: SYDNEY

THE COURT ORDERS THAT: The application be dismissed. 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 N 593 OF 2000

BETWEEN: MOHAMMAD DALOWER HOSSAIN

APPLICANT

AND: MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS

RESPONDENT

JUDGE: O'LOUGHLIN J

DATE: 13 OCTOBER 2000

PLACE: SYDNEY

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT 1 The applicant in this matter is a Bangladesh national. He was born on 17 July 1968 and is therefore thirty-two years of age. He arrived in Australia on 22 August 1998 and within a few days he lodged an application for a protection visa. On 7 October 1998 a delegate of the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs ("the Minister") refused his application. Mr Hossain sought a review of that decision by the Refugee Review Tribunal ("the Tribunal") but on 11 May 2000 the Tribunal affirmed the delegate's decision. 2 Mr Hossain claimed that he satisfied the convention definition of a refugee. He said that he had a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of his political opinion, namely his support for the Bangladesh Nationalist Party ("the BNP"). Mr Hossain claimed before the Tribunal that he had joined the BNP which formerly held Bangladesh until mid 1996. In 1996 the political enemy of the BNP, the Awami League ("the AL"), was successful in the elections. The Tribunal noted that since 1996 when the AL took power there have been substantiated accounts of inter-party violence. 3 The Tribunal also was aware that sections of the AL had exploited its influence to attack and frame political enemies. Mr Hossain told the Tribunal that he was one such enemy of the AL. He said that if he returned to Bangladesh he would be targeted for serious mistreatment, violence and the pursuit of false criminal charges. In 1993 some three years before the AL took power Mr Hossain left Bangladesh to work in Malaysia. He stayed there for five years and during that time the Bangladesh authorities renewed his passport. After his contract in Malaysia ended he travelled to the Philippines and he obtained a visitor's visa to Australia. 4 Mr Hossain's explanation to the Tribunal for leaving Bangladesh in 1993 was that he had to leave because he had been victimised with false charges that had been laid against him through the influence of his political enemies. This of course was whilst the BNP was still in power. Mr Hossain told the Tribunal that his family continued to live in their usual place of residence. His father operates a business, two of his siblings are students, two others are looking for work. The spouses of two of his siblings also reside with the family. He said to the Tribunal that all of the information about his family was up to date to a few months before the Tribunal hearing. 5 He also told the Tribunal that one of his siblings had been an unsuccessful BNP candidate for a local seat and he said to the Tribunal that his family constantly faced persecution. The Tribunal asked him to give some examples of the persecution that had been experienced by members of his family. I now read what it is that the Tribunal said of his answer: "He was slow and stumbling in reply and took some time to formulate an answer at all. Eventually he said that his brother's motor cycle had been stolen by the successful candidate in the local election."