SZKFC v Minister for Immigration and Citizenship [2007] FCA 687

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

SZKFC v Minister for Immigration and Citizenship [2007] FCA 687 SZKFC v MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP AND REFUGEE REVIEW TRIBUNAL NSD 467 OF 2007

COWDROY J

25 MAY 2007

SYDNEY IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

NEW SOUTH WALES DISTRICT REGISTRY NSD 467 OF 2007

BETWEEN: SZKFC

Applicant

AND: MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP

First Respondent

REFUGEE REVIEW TRIBUNAL

Second Respondent

JUDGE: COWDROY J DATE OF ORDER: 25 MAY 2007

WHERE MADE: SYDNEY

THE COURT ORDERS THAT:

1. The application for leave to appeal be dismissed. 2. The applicant pay the costs of the first respondent in the sum of $1275. 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 467 OF 2007

BETWEEN: SZKFC

Applicant

AND: MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP

First Respondent

REFUGEE REVIEW TRIBUNAL

Second Respondent

JUDGE: COWDROY J

DATE: 25 MAY 2007

PLACE: SYDNEY

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT 1 This is an application for leave to appeal from a decision of Federal Magistrate Scarlett dismissing an application for judicial review of a decision of the Refugee Review Tribunal ('the Tribunal') to refuse the applicant a protection visa.

BACKGROUND 2 The applicant is a citizen of Morocco who arrived in Australia on 7 February 1999. On 29 December 2005 the applicant lodged an application for a protection visa with the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs ('the Department'). A delegate of the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs ('the Minister') refused the application on 23 January 2006. On 2 March 2006 the applicant applied to the Tribunal for a review of that decision. 3 The applicant claims that he left Morocco for further studies, for the possibility of establishing a commercial enterprise in Australia, and to be removed from the tense atmosphere in Morocco. The applicant claimed that the basis of his persecution related to the terrorist explosion on 16 May 2003 in Casablanca which led to the police and secret service initiating a widespread campaign of raids in which 2000 people were arrested. 4 The applicant claimed that he had friends involved with the Islamic Organisation for Human Rights which had been of interest to the government and that his brother was a journalist and a prominent supporter of the Moroccan Human Rights movement. 5 The applicant claimed that his brother had told him that Moroccan security agents had come to his workplace in August 2003 to interrogate the applicant. The applicant's brother threatened to report them to humanitarian and legal organisations, which only aggravated the tension. The applicant claimed he was warned by his brother not to return to Morocco and feared being subject to interrogation and torture by the Moroccan secret service.