W404/01A v Minister for Immigration & Multicultural Affairs [2002] FCA 540

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

W404/01A v Minister for Immigration & Multicultural Affairs [2002] FCA 540 Migration Act 1958 (Cth)s 476(1) W404/01A v MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION & MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS W404 of 2001 RD NICHOLSON J 3 MAY 2002 PERTH

IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

WESTERN AUSTRALIA DISTRICT REGISTRY W404 of 2001

BETWEEN: W404/01A

APPLICANT

AND: MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION & MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS

RESPONDENT

JUDGE: RD NICHOLSON J

DATE OF ORDER: 3 MAY 2002

WHERE MADE: PERTH

THE COURT ORDERS THAT: 1. The application be dismissed. 2. The applicant pay the respondent's costs of the application. Note: Settlement and entry of orders is dealt with in Order 36 of the Federal Court Rules.

IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

WESTERN AUSTRALIA DISTRICT REGISTRY W404 of 2001

BETWEEN: W404/01A

APPLICANT

AND: MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION & MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS

RESPONDENT

JUDGE: RD NICHOLSON J

DATE: 3 MAY 2002

PLACE: PERTH

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT 1 The applicant seeks review of a decision of the Refugee Review Tribunal ("the Tribunal") made on 20 August 2001. In that decision the Tribunal affirmed a decision of a delegate of the respondent not to grant to the applicant a protection (class XA) visa. The application attracts the application of the relevant provisions of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) ("the Act") as they stood prior to amendment on 2 October 2001.

Applicant's circumstances and claims 2 The applicant is a citizen of India. He arrived in Australia on 23 March 2001. He was born and resided in Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian-controlled portion of the disputed region of Kashmir. He is a Sunni Muslim. The applicant made the following claims: (a) Between 1993 and 1997 he was harassed by the Indian army approximately twenty times. (b) His brother, who was a member of the Kashmir Liberation Front ("JKLF"), was killed by Indian armed forces in 1996. (c) He crossed the border into the Pakistan controlled region of Kashmir in December 1997 and remained there until December 2000. (d) He married a Pakistani citizen. (e) If he had remained in Pakistan the Inter Services Intelligence ("ISI") would have forced him to fight in the war against the Indian army. (f) He cannot return to India because of his family's political involvement and past interest in him by the Indian authorities.