Tribunal review of decision to refuse protection visa application
8 On 14 September 2012, the appellant filed an application for review of the delegate's decision by the Tribunal. The Tribunal conducted a hearing on 30 October 2012, at which the appellant gave evidence with the assistance of a Tamil interpreter.
9 The Tribunal's reasons state that the appellant confirmed that he feared persecution for the following reasons:
(1) His imputed association with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ("LTTE") due to being from an area which was formerly controlled by the LTTE; and
(2) His closer imputed association with the LTTE due to accusations made by the Sri Lankan Army after they saw the appellant chasing a grease devil holding an iron rod in his hands.
10 The reasons state that the appellant "confirmed that these were the only reasons that he feared persecution or serious harm, and these were the only reasons that he left Sri Lanka".
11 Even so, the Tribunal also considered two other possible claims, namely:
(3) As a failed asylum seeker returning to Sri Lanka from Australia, and/or a person who exited Sri Lanka illegally in travelling to Australia; and
(4) As a person of specific interest to the Sri Lankan authorities, because the appellant had submitted that the Criminal Investigation Department ("CID"), the Sri Lankan army and unidentified persons had been searching for him since his encounter with the grease devil and since he exited Sri Lanka.
12 The appellant's account of the "grease devil incident" was central to his claim for protection. The Tribunal questioned the appellant extensively about the incident and about grease devils, for example, asking the appellant to describe who grease devils were, what grease devils did, if he had seen the grease devil that came to his house, and to describe that grease devil and why the grease devil would come to the area where he lived. The Tribunal asked questions about what precisely the appellant was doing when the grease devil attacked his wife and raised with the appellant apparent inconsistencies between his version of events and previous versions.
13 The Tribunal's decision record includes the following account of how it sought to raise inconsistencies and improbabilities with the appellant in the following paragraphs:
45. The Tribunal raised that there was information before it that would be the reason, or part of the reason, subject to the applicant's response, for affirming the decision under review. The Tribunal said that it would invite the applicant to comment on or respond to the information either orally, after an adjournment, or in writing, or any way that the applicant wished. The Tribunal raised that the information was the difference between the comments made by the applicant during the entry interview, and the submissions made by the applicant at a later date. The Tribunal raised that the evidence to support a finding of contradictory evidence was as follows: that the applicant had said in his entry interview that grease devils stab women to find out where LTTE are; that the grease devil had entered his house by removing tiles; that grease devils were covered in paint (as opposed to grease); and that when the applicant had been asked why these people were called grease devils he had responded that he didn't know.
46. In response the [appellant] said that during his entry interview his state of mind was very different, and he had not had food or water in three days, and that he could have been confused in his words. The [appellant] also raised that he had said grease, but the interpreter had mixed it up and said paint. [The Tribunal raised that the interpreter had said Grease Devils in other areas and in this context and this did not support that they had mixed up the words paint and grease.] In response the [appellant] also confirmed that his evidence was that Grease Devils did stab women to find out where the LTTE are. The [appellant] also said that he did not say tiles had been removed, he said that they had jumped from the rear side of the house to access his house.
47. The Tribunal also raised that it had difficulty believing the applicant's submissions. The Tribunal raised one reason for this was that [sic] his description of the grease devils seemed fanciful. The Tribunal raised that the applicant had said the grease devils had knives on their fingers, and that they had a button or a system to alert the Sri Lankan Army, and that they may have it within their underwear. The Tribunal raised that this was difficult to accept as realistic. The applicant confirmed that this was his evidence. The Tribunal also raised that the applicant seemed to have increased his knowledge of grease devils since his time in Australia, and that under section 91R(3) of the Migration Act it must disregard any behaviour that has been undertaken for the sole purpose of furthering his refugee claims.
14 The Tribunal rejected the first claim of imputed association with the LTTE having regard to the following matters:
The appellant entered and exited Sri Lanka several times during the period 1999 to 2007 without difficulty, despite being readily identifiable as a Tamil from an area previously controlled by the LTTE;
On one of these occasions, the appellant was deported from Dubai to Sri Lanka after being denied entry due to holding a fraudulent visa;
The appellant asserted several times during the hearing that he did not have issues until his interaction with the grease devil.
15 As to the second claim, the Tribunal did not believe that the appellant had had an interaction with a grease devil. The Tribunal's first stated reason for disbelieving this aspect of the appellant's claims was that, during his entry interview, the appellant described his wife's attacker as a "grease man" but then said that he was covered in paint. The appellant also said that he did not know why they were called grease men. The Tribunal found that this information showed a general lack of knowledge, as country of origin information states that grease devils are referred to as such because they are covered in grease, making it difficult for people to grab and capture them. It also raised a doubt as to whether the appellant had seen and interacted with a grease man.
16 In his reasons, the FCC judge noted that the written record of the entry interview recorded that the appellant had described grease men as "people who paint their faces and only stab women to find out where the [LTTE] were coming or if the [LTTE] is still active in the area". There is no evidence that the appellant ever said that his wife's attacker was covered in paint. Thus, this aspect of the Tribunal's decision seems to have been based on a misdescription of what the appellant had said at the entry interview.
17 The Tribunal's other reasons for disbelieving this aspect of the appellant's claims were:
During the Tribunal hearing, the appellant said that the grease devil had attached knives to his nails and was about to stab everyone. This description was not supported by country of origin information or common sense, and the Tribunal considered it to be fanciful;
The Tribunal also considered fanciful the appellant's claim during the Tribunal hearing that grease men were able to alert the Sri Lankan Army to their whereabouts by something they were carrying, despite wearing only underwear and shoes and knives on their hands;
During the Tribunal hearing, the appellant appeared to display significantly better knowledge about grease devils than he had shown during his entry interview, leading the Tribunal to conclude that the appellant had pursued information about grease devils in order to strengthen his claims;
The appellant's evidence concerning the events surrounding his interaction with a grease devil was "fanciful and contradictory". The Tribunal said:
In his written statement the [appellant] said that people had been attacked and they had organised street patrols between villagers, and that he was patrolling the street when his wife was attacked. However, during the hearing the [appellant] contradicted this evidence and said that they were not allowed to patrol and he was not patrolling. Later in the hearing he amended his evidence again to say he was patrolling. In addition, when asked if his neighbour had chased the grease devil with him, the [appellant] said no, and that his neighbour was probably tired. This response is fanciful, considering that the [appellant's] evidence was that he and his neighbour were both sitting at the front of their houses to guard against grease devils, so the idea that his neighbour would not give chase is unrealistic.
18 Concerning the possible claim to protection arising from the appellant's situation if he were to be a failed asylum seeker returning to Sri Lanka from Australia, and/or a person who had exited Sri Lanka illegally in travelling to Australia, the Tribunal concluded that the appellant did not have a well-founded fear of persecution in the reasonably foreseeable future arising out of the risk that he faced on his return to Sri Lanka, which the Tribunal identified as the risk that he would be questioned by the CID and/or other Sri Lankan authorities regarding his illegal departure and the people on the boat in which he travelled. In reaching this conclusion, the Tribunal relied on country of origin information that all returnees are questioned by the authorities upon return and all but a relatively small number are released soon after. The Tribunal also relied on information that people with outstanding criminal matters may be detained, and that those who return without the knowledge of their families may be at risk, but noted that none of these factors applied to the appellant.