Refugees in Australia

2002-05-29 08:27: 19

I. Refugee Convention

Australia is a signatory to the Refugee Convention and has an international obligation to provide protection to those who meet the definition of refugee in the United Nations Refugee Convention. If you meet the requirements of the refugee definition, you will have the right to live in Australia permanently.

Two. United Nations definition of refugees

It is defined as: a person who has become a refugee because of his race, belief, nationality, party, special social group and different political views, and is currently outside his country of nationality, and has sufficient reasons to fear persecution after returning to China, so he cannot or will not accept the protection of his country of origin.

Three. Definition outside the country of nationality

When submitting the application, the applicant must not be in the country of nationality. Whether they leave because of persecution or fear of persecution because the situation has changed after leaving, it constitutes a reason.

Four. Definition of persecution

When hearing a case, the immigration judge attaches great importance to evaluating the possibility of persecution of the applicant, so the applicant should describe the possibility of persecution as detailed as possible in his statement. There is no uniform and accepted legal definition of "persecution". Threats to human life and freedom caused by race, belief, nationality, political parties, special social groups and political opinions all constitute persecution. Other serious violations of human rights also constitute persecution. This kind of behavior can be a single oppression, or it can be some behaviors or means that do not constitute persecution alone but cumulatively constitute persecution.

Generally speaking, the persecution that refugees fear refers to the persecution imposed by their own government or institutions controlled by their own government. However, fear of persecution by other organizations or institutions can also be the reason for applying for protection, especially if the applicant can prove that the authorities know and condone this behavior, or the authorities are unwilling or unable to provide effective protection. For example, some applicants have been targeted by assassination groups or guerrillas.

Verb (abbreviation for verb) The Immigration Bureau lists the following situations that constitute persecution:

Threats to human life, freedom and security.

Free slavery.

Abuse or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

Unreasonable arrest, detention or exile (except for measures considered necessary to protect the safety and rights of others or maintain order in an emergency).

Being harassed, detained or arrested continuously or frequently.

Exile and internal exile.

The former privileged people are forced to participate in re-education through manual labor or other pressures to change their ideas, which is related to the reasons in the definition of refugees.

Causes of intransitive verbs refugees

In order to meet the United Nations definition of refugees, applicants must provide reasons for fear of persecution that are consistent with the Refugee Convention. The explanation is as follows:

Race: including all applicants persecuted for ethnic or racial reasons.

Belief: Including applicants persecuted for joining established religious groups and smaller religious organizations.

:: Ethnic group: the applicant was persecuted for belonging to an ethnic group.

Special social groups: there is no strict definition of social groups. Generally speaking, social organizations are composed of people with similar backgrounds and social status, such as intellectual groups, women's groups, family organizations, gay organizations and so on.

Seven. How to prepare an appeal to the Refugee Appeals Tribunal?

If the refugee application is rejected, the application can be submitted to the Refugee Appeals Tribunal for review. The steps are as follows:

1. Find out why the visa was refused.

The immigration officer who refuses the applicant's application must explain why the applicant does not meet the definition of refugee. There may be some different reasons, such as:

The Immigration Bureau believes that the applicant's complaint is acceptable, but the applicant's country has undergone great changes, and it is safe for them to return to China now.

Reject the applicant's complaint because it is not credible.

The content of the applicant's complaint is not strong enough to convince people that he is in danger of persecution after returning to China.

You can accept the applicant's complaint, but think that the applicant is only discriminated against rather than persecuted.

The reasons stated in the rejection letter can help the applicant sum up the advantages and disadvantages of the case. However, if the applicant only takes the rejection letter out of context, it may be misled. In the court of appeal, it is important to refute these reasons, but it is more important to submit the whole case to the court of appeal.

Prepare for the debate

Answer every reason in the rejection letter (as detailed as possible). It is considered that the situation of the applicant's complaint is not serious enough because the immigration bureau does not fully understand the situation in the country where the applicant is located. It is common for an applicant to think something is obvious without proper explanation and assume that everyone knows it, but it is not the case for others. Applicants should provide all reasons that can prove that they meet the definition according to the definition of refugee, and if possible, provide new evidence for controversial complaints.

The applicant's spouse and dependent relatives in Australia must also provide detailed written persecution records to the Refugee Appeals Tribunal. If they are afraid of persecution only because of their relationship with the applicant, there is no need to provide such a statement. If the spouse or other relatives have other statements, they should submit them to the Refugee Appeals Tribunal. The Refugee Appeals Tribunal has the responsibility to examine the complaint of each family member listed in the refugee asylum visa application form. The applicant should also file a humanitarian complaint. The Refugee Appeals Tribunal has no power to decide or recommend that applicants stay in Australia on humanitarian grounds. Only the Minister of Immigration has this power. If the Refugee Appeals Tribunal rejects the applicant's appeal, the case will be returned to the Immigration Bureau. The Immigration Bureau will assess whether the applicant can be classified as a humanitarian. If the Immigration Department proposes to classify it as a humanitarian case, the case will be sent to the Minister of Immigration, who will decide whether to issue a visa to the applicant.

3. Arrange the materials in order

The facts in the refugee asylum visa application form are often complicated, so it is very important to sort out these facts and express them in an orderly way. It may be a good idea to arrange the documents in chronological order, because then the court can understand what happened without looking at many documents. If you want to add supplementary materials to the application, you need to explain these contents in the attached letter and explain their relationship with the application.

Eight. Examples of successful refugee applications

In the second half of last year, Mr. Lin, a tourist visa holder in eastern Zhejiang, came to our center for consultation and sought ways to change his identity. Before coming to Australia, he was just an ordinary doctor who believed in Catholic education. He had neither a business background nor the funds to develop in Australia. Obviously, he can't apply for a business visa. He was not confident at first, saying that his friends said that the success rate of refugee applications was extremely low. After we briefly introduced to him the definition of refugees by UNHCR and the procedures and methods for the Immigration Bureau to approve refugee applications, Mr. Lin saw the hope of success and immediately entrusted our center to handle it.

According to Mr. Lin's background, the center collected a large amount of evidence to prove that religious defenders were persecuted and were forbidden to observe their activities. According to Mr. Lin's experience, the center described in detail the possibility of Mr. Lin being persecuted in his own country and the reasons why he was afraid of being persecuted. In the statement, we emphasized the potential danger that he might be persecuted, and pointed out that Mr. Lin's parishioners were treated unfairly in the process of engaging in church activities.

In the face of this detailed and substantial refugee application, it is difficult for immigration officials to give reasons for refusing the visa. In just five or six weeks, Mr. Lin's refugee application was approved. His excitement, excitement and gratitude can't be described in words, because his overseas wife and five children can also guarantee to come to Australia at once. How exciting it is that a big family will be reunited in Australia.

With the help of this center, many families have obtained residency through refugee and humanitarian applications. In fact, refugee application is a simple and complicated category. It's very simple, because everyone can claim that he is afraid of persecution and ask for political asylum. When judging, they only judge whether the applicant's statement is true and reasonable, whether his fear is serious and whether he is likely to be persecuted. The trial officer does not require the refugee applicant to provide substantive evidence. It is complicated because the statement of refugee application must be substantial, detailed and reasonable, which fully reflects your guarantee of success. Evaluate the evaluation officer according to the definition of refugee developed by UNHCR as mentioned above.

The Australian government allocates a considerable number of immigrants to refugees and humanitarian applications every year. Refugee applicants enjoy more preferential treatment than other categories. If certain conditions are met, the applicant can enjoy the right to work and free medical care while awaiting trial. Australia is a humanitarian country.