Fed: Blood feud not good enough to win refugee protection

AAP General News (Australia)
12-14-2006
Fed: Blood feud not good enough to win refugee protection

CANBERRA, Dec 14 AAP - Fear of getting killed in a 60-year-old Albanian blood feud
did not qualify a person for refugee protection in Australia, the High Court has ruled.

High Court judges by a majority of 4-1 today dismissed an appeal lodged by an Albanian
man, named only as STCB, who in November 2000 applied for a protection visa.

That was based on his claim that in 1944-45 his grandfather sparked a blood feud by
killing a member of the Paja family.

He said the Pajas were obliged by the customary law of Albania to kill a male member
of STCB's family.

He feared he would be killed if he returned to Albania and Albanian police were powerless
to intervene.

The Immigration Department refused his application. He then appealed to the Refugee
Review Tribunal (RRT) which affirmed that decision.

The tribunal accepted STCB's claim that his family was involved in a blood feud with
the Paja family and that there was a tradition of blood feuds, particularly in northern
Albania.

However, Albanian authorities were addressing the problem.

The RRT held that fear of revenge for a criminal act did not qualify as fear of persecution
falling within the definition of persecution in the Refugees Convention.

Undeterred, STCB then turned to the Federal Court and the Full Court of the Federal
Court which both upheld the RRT decision. He then appealed to the High Court.

Judges today found his grandfather had a fear of persecution, not for any reason listed
in the Refugee Convention, but because he committed murder and that was the only reason
for STCB's concern.

AAP mb/sb/evt/de

KEYWORD: FEUD

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