SZIKV v Minister for Immigration & Citizenship [2007] FCA 403

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

SZIKV v Minister for Immigration & Citizenship [2007] FCA 403

MIGRATION - appeal from a decision of a Federal Magistrate - no point of principle Held: Appeal dismissed. Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs v Wu Shan Liang (1996) 185 CLR 259 cited SZBEL v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs [2006] HCA 63 cited SZIKV v MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION & CITIZENSHIP AND REFUGEE REVIEW TRIBUNAL NSD1824 OF 2006

COLLIER J

22 MARCH 2007

BRISBANE IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

QUEENSLAND DISTRICT REGISTRY NSD1824 OF 2006

ON APPEAL FROM THE FEDERAL MAGISTRATES COURT OF AUSTRALIA

BETWEEN: SZIKV

Appellant

AND: MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION & CITIZENSHIP

First Respondent

REFUGEE REVIEW TRIBUNAL

Second Respondent

JUDGE: COLLIER J DATE OF ORDER: 22 MARCH 2007

WHERE MADE: BRISBANE

THE COURT ORDERS THAT:

1. The name of the first respondent be amended to read Minister for Immigration and Citizenship. 2. 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

QUEENSLAND DISTRICT REGISTRY NSD1824 OF 2006

ON APPEAL FROM THE FEDERAL MAGISTRATES COURT OF AUSTRALIA

BETWEEN: SZIKV

Appellant

AND: MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION & CITIZENSHIP

First Respondent

REFUGEE REVIEW TRIBUNAL

Second Respondent

JUDGE: COLLIER J

DATE: 22 MARCH 2007

PLACE: BRISBANE

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT 1 This is an appeal against a decision of Scarlett FM delivered 30 August 2006, dismissing an application for judicial review of a decision of the Refugee Review Tribunal ("the Tribunal"). I note that a previously constituted Tribunal in a decision dated 9 March 2004 had earlier affirmed a decision of a delegate of the Minister refusing to grant a protection visa to the appellant, but that the Federal Court in a decision of 9 September 2005 allowed an appeal against that decision and remitted the matter to the Tribunal for reconsideration. The matter before this Court concerns a subsequent decision of the Tribunal concerning the same applicant for a protection visa, where the Tribunal has again affirmed the decision of a delegate of the Minister to refuse to grant a protection visa to the appellant. 2 The appellant is a citizen of Bangladesh who arrived in Australia in May 2003 as a dependant on the visa of his wife. It appears that the appellant and his wife separated after arrival in this country. 3 On 14 November 2003 the appellant lodged an application for a protection visa with the now Department of Immigration and Citizenship. On 24 November 2003 a delegate of the first respondent advised the appellant that his application was refused. On remittal of the matter to the Tribunal for reconsideration following the events I described earlier, an invitation to hearing was sent to the appellant on 11 November 2005. In support of his application for review the appellant provided the Tribunal with a copy of his passport, a letter from the Bangladeshi Awami League, a letter from the Bangladesh Parliament and various newspaper articles from The Bangladesh Observer and The Daily Star Web Edition. The appellant attended the hearing and was assisted by a Bengali interpreter. Further to his oral evidence the appellant submitted, after the hearing, a further written submission to the Tribunal. 4 Before the Tribunal the appellant claimed to have a well-founded fear of persecution because of his political opinion. The appellant claimed he was involved in the Chharta League, the student wing of the Awami League in Bangladesh, while he was at college and was elected vice-president in 1983. The appellant claimed he was arrested, detained and beaten in 1984 after leading a demonstration against the government of General Ershad. The appellant asserted his involvement in politics was not limited to his time at university and that during his involvement after university and during the various times the Bangladeshi National Party ("BNP") came to power, false charges were filed against him, his house was ransacked and looted and numerous attempts were made to kill him. The appellant claimed he had been in hiding since 2001 departing Bangladesh in 2003.