An Indian national who was seeking asylum in Australia, claiming a threat to life in his home country on account of his religion and claimed a genocide was being practiced against religious minorities in India, will be deported after failing to have the visa refusal overturned.
The 33-year-old man who cannot be named due to legal reasons sought a protection visa claiming that he and his family were supporters of Shiromani Akali Dal (Mann) and that Sikhs were persecuted in all parts of India. Shiromani Akali Dal (Mann) is a political party in Punjab that seeks to establish an independent Sikh nation, Khalistan.
The asylum seeker also claimed that he had been harassed and beaten up and his family was threatened.
However, at the hearing of his appeal against the immigration department’s refusal to grant him protection visa, the Tribunal said the claims were “fabricated”.
The man who arrived in Australia in 2007 on a student visa and continued to remain in the country even after his application for another student visa was refused in 2010 had applied for a protection visa in 2013.
He told the Administrative Appeals Tribunal that a genocide was being practiced on religious minorities in India. The Tribunal noted that this claim was not supported by independent country information.
No evidence was provided to support his claims despite more time being given by the Tribunal before it ruled against the Indian national in May 2016. The Tribunal found that he had fabricated these claims and that neither he nor any member of his family had ever been harassed, tortured, threatened, assaulted on account of being Sikh or supporters of Akali Dal.
It ruled that there was “less than a real chance” that he would suffer harm because of his religion in India.
He challenged the decision of the AAT in the court, claiming the Tribunal denied him procedural fairness and acted unreasonably by not allowing time to submit more evidence.
However, the Federal Circuit Court of Australia dismissed the appeal last year and ordered him to pay $5,000 in the Immigration Department’s legal cost.
When the matter came before the Federal Court of Australia, it noted that despite repeated requests by the Tribunal over a six-week period, no evidence was submitted to support the claims of persecution. The court, last week, dismissed the appeal and ordered the visa applicant to pay $3,500 in legal cost.
