SZJKF v Minister for Immigration and Citizenship [2007] FCA 1654

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

SZJKF v Minister for Immigration and Citizenship [2007] FCA 1654 SZJKF v MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP AND REFUGEE REVIEW TRIBUNAL NSD 1130 OF 2007

MIDDLETON J

31 OCTOBER 2007

SYDNEY IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

NEW SOUTH WALES DISTRICT REGISTRY NSD 1130 OF 2007

ON APPEAL FROM THE FEDERAL MAGISTRATES COURT OF AUSTRALIA

BETWEEN: SZJKF

Appellant

AND: MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP

First Respondent

REFUGEE REVIEW TRIBUNAL

Second Respondent

JUDGE: MIDDLETON J DATE OF ORDER: 31 OCTOBER 2007

WHERE MADE: SYDNEY

THE COURT ORDERS THAT:

1. 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 1130 OF 2007

ON APPEAL FROM THE FEDERAL MAGISTRATES COURT OF AUSTRALIA

BETWEEN: SZJKF

Appellant

AND: MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP

First Respondent

REFUGEE REVIEW TRIBUNAL

Second Respondent

JUDGE: MIDDLETON J

DATE: 31 OCTOBER 2007

PLACE: SYDNEY

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT 1 This is an appeal against the orders of a Federal Magistrate made on 1 June 2007 dismissing an application for judicial review of a decision of the Refugee Review Tribunal ('the Tribunal') signed on 31 July 2006 and handed down on 22 August 2006.

PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND AND THE APPELLANT'S CLAIMS 2 The appellant is a citizen of Indonesia who arrived in Australia on 9 March 2006 and lodged an application for a protection visa with the then Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. A delegate of the first respondent refused the application for a protection visa on 5 May 2006. On 7 June 2006 the appellant applied to the Tribunal for a review of that decision and attached a statement that was similar in text to that which was attached to her protection visa application. The appellant attended a Tribunal hearing on 20 July 2006 and gave oral evidence with the assistance of an Indonesian interpreter. 3 The appellant claimed to be a Christian and a widow. She claimed to have a well-founded fear of persecution by native Indonesians as an ethnic Chinese Christian, and as a widow. 4 The appellant's evidence at the hearing before the Tribunal differed in some slight details from the statement provided in her protection visa application and application for review. The appellant stated at hearing that her friend had completed the protection visa application and that she had not checked what had been written. 5 In her written evidence, the appellant claimed that her house and shops had been looted and burned. She claimed that she was often sexually harassed and raped by locals but the government did not protect her. She claimed that her life had always been 'deprived of happiness, security, liberty and freedom' and that all her past experiences had accumulated in 'psychological fear'. She feared that there would be another 'May massacre'. 6 At the hearing, she continued her claim of being a widow persecuted for her Chinese ethnicity by local Indonesians. However, the details as to each limb of her claims differed. In relation to property damage, she claimed that during the 1998 riots the only property looted and burned was her only shop, that being a jewellery shop. She gave evidence that her husband died after the 1998 riots. The appellant gave claims that her husband was unable to find work after their shop was destroyed, his health deteriorated, and he suffered a stroke that left him paralysed. The appellant indicated he had died four or five years after the riots, but as he did not have any health problems previously, she attributed his deteriorating health and resulting death to the riots. In relation to the claims of sexual harassment, the appellant stated that local people 'disturbed' her, and gave claims that she feared a local Indonesian neighbour wanted to rape her because he tried to enter her house and that he had on two occasions tried to touch her hand. She claimed that prior to the riots her children were hit by non-Chinese children.