SZGIZ v Minister for Immigration & Multicultural & Indigenous Affairs [2005] FCA 1739

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

SZGIZ v Minister for Immigration & Multicultural & Indigenous Affairs [2005] FCA 1739 SZGIZ v MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND MULTICULTURAL AND INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS AND REFUGEE REVIEW TRIBUNAL NSD 1445 OF 2005 STONE J 2 DECEMBER 2005 SYDNEY

IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

NEW SOUTH WALES DISTRICT REGISTRY NSD 1445 OF 2005

ON APPEAL FROM THE FEDERAL MAGISTRATES COURT OF AUSTRALIA

BETWEEN: SZGIZ

APPELLANT

AND MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND MULTICULTURAL AND INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS

FIRST RESPONDENT

REFUGEE REVIEW TRIBUNAL

SECOND RESPONDENT

JUDGE: STONE J

DATE OF ORDER: 2 DECEMBER 2005

WHERE MADE: SYDNEY

THE COURT ORDERS THAT: The appeal be 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 NSD 1445 OF 2005

ON APPEAL FROM THE FEDERAL MAGISTRATES COURT OF AUSTRALIA

BETWEEN: SZGIZ

APPELLANT

AND: MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND MULTICULTURAL AND INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS

FIRST RESPONDENT

REFUGEE REVIEW TRIBUNAL

SECOND RESPONDENT

JUDGE: STONE J

DATE: 2 DECEMBER 2005

PLACE: SYDNEY

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT 1 On 29 July 2005 Smith FM dismissed the appellant's application for review of a decision of the Refugee Review Tribunal ('the Tribunal') in which the Tribunal rejected his application for a protection visa; [2005] FMCA 1144. The application to the Federal Magistrates Court was made under s 483A of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) ('the Act') and s 39B of the Judiciary Act 1903 (Cth). The appellant now appeals from his Honour's decision.

Background

The appellant's application for a protection visa 2 The appellant, a citizen of Bangladesh, arrived in Australia on 24 January 1996 but did not lodge his application for a protection (Class XA) visa until 11 March 2005. In his protection visa application, the appellant claimed he was a Bangladeshi national who lived in Dhaka until July 1994. After studying for 12 years in Dhaka, he worked in his own business from December 1991 to February 1999. The appellant described his religion as Christian. 3 Attached to his protection visa was a statement setting out his claimed basis for refugee status. The Federal Magistrate described the attached statement at [5]-[7] of his judgment: 'Attached to the visa application was an eight page statement which set out factual claims upon which protection was sought under the Refugees Convention. In short, the applicant claimed to have become interested in Christianity as a young man in Bangladesh and after his arrival in Australia to have "decided to convert myself from Islam to Christianity". The statement said that he had been introduced to a priest in late 2000, and "currently I am following this priest's advice and is hoped to be baptised by him in his priesthood office at Sydney." The statement said that the applicant's interest in Christianity had come to the attention of the Bangladesh community in Sydney and Australia, including a business partner and his friends. It said that "some of my friends here in Sydney also threatened me" and "are trying to hit me physically. They always threaten me over telephone". The statement said: Recently I've come to know that some Muslim Fundamentalists from my own area (in Dhaka) threatened my family in January 2003. A fanatic Muslim group also attacked our house (in Dhaka). The statement contained an unclear reference to events in Bangladesh in 1995, and made further claims supporting a fear to return to Bangladesh based on concerns about Muslim extremists and "a growing threat of terrorism from my known enemies at Sydney and Dhaka".'