Minister for Immigration and Border Protection v. WZAPN & Anor

Lower Court Judgment

3/09/2014 Federal Court of Australia (North J)

[2014] FCA 947

Catchwords

Migration – Refugee and humanitarian visas – Definition of refugee – Fear of Persecution – Serious Harm – Whether under s 91R of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) a refugee claimant will suffer “serious harm” if detained for a reason mentioned in the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees 1951 as amended by the Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees 1967 without any need to assess the severity of that detention - Where the respondent is a stateless Faili Kurd – Where respondent claimed a fear of persecution if he was returned to Iran due to his Kurdish ethnicity and stateless personhood – Where the refugee status assessment officer concluded that the applicant was not a refugee within the meaning of the Convention – Where the officer found that whilst respondent would face arbitrary questioning and detention due to his lack of documentation this did not amount to a serious harm within the meaning of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) – Federal Court found that the assessment officer had erred by undertaking a qualitative assessment of the detention that was likely to occur if respondent was returned to Iran – Whether a qualitative assessment of the seriousness of the harm suffered by the respondent was required pursuant to s 91R of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth).

Short particulars