Request for Ministerial Intervention: Application ID __________ / File Number________

This letter is a request for Ministerial Intervention as per the provisions of Section 48B of the Migration Act, 1958 on behalf of Mrs. Arezoo Esfahani through this letter dated 04.05. 2018. Mrs. Arezoo Esfahani wished to relocate to Australia and was granted a bridging E class visa and she subsequently applied for a protection visa (subclass 866) under the provisions of Section 35 of the Migration Act, 1958 on the grounds of the inhuman acts of violence that she had been subject to and would continue to face if she remained in Iran. The Department of Home Affairs (DOHA) rejected her application for the protection visa (subclass 866) and this meant that she would not be granted protection. This decision was appealed before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) who upheld the decision of the DOHA and stated that Mrs. Arezoo Esfahani’s contentions and claim regarding such acts of violence had not been sufficiently established.

Running head: GRADUATE DIPLOMA IN MIGRATION LAW
GRADUATE DIPLOMA IN MIGRATION LAW
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1GRADUATE DIPLOMA IN MIGRATION LAW
Arezoo Esfahani
Dated: 04. 05. 2018
Dear Minister,
Request for Ministerial Intervention: Application ID __________ / File Number________
I would like to request Ministerial Intervention as per the provisions of Section 48B of
the Migration Act, 1958 on behalf of Mrs. Arezoo Esfahani through this letter dated 04.05. 2018.
Mrs. Arezoo Esfahani was married through a valid religious ceremony in Shiraz, Iran in
2014. However, for certain reasons the Iranian Authorities did not consider the marriage to be
valid. She has also conceived a child (Hamid Tajik) but as her marriage was not considered to be
valid the child conceived through it was considered to be born out of wedlock. As a result, Mrs.
Arezoo Esfahani is not given the state guaranteed protection that married woman are given in
Iran and Hamid is not able to avail the state funded education service which is a right he should
ideally have access to. This however was just a minor injustice compared to the atrocities faced
by her and her child in Iran. She and her child were openly discriminated against due to the
authorities considering her marriage void and her child being considered to be born out of
wedlock. There were men who committed heinous acts of violence against her to the extent
where she was traumatized and her child had been a witness to such acts. Mrs. Arezoo Esfahani
wished to relocate to Australia and was granted a bridging E class visa and she subsequently
applied for a protection visa (subclass 866) under the provisions of Section 35 of the Migration
Act, 1958 on the grounds of the inhuman acts of violence that she had been subject to and would
continue to face if she remained in Iran1. It is pertinent to note that the authorities did not stop
such acts of violence and would continue to engage in them with her presence in the country.
1 Migration Act, 1958.

2GRADUATE DIPLOMA IN MIGRATION LAW
The Department of Home Affairs (DOHA) rejected her application for the protection visa
(subclass 866) and this meant that she would not be granted protection. This decision was
appealed before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) who upheld the decision of the
DOHA and stated that Mrs. Arezoo Esfahani’s contentions and claim regarding such acts of
violence had not been sufficiently established. A major reason for this was that Mrs. Arezoo
Esfahani did not go into the details of the incidents that compelled her to relocate to Australia. It
must also be stated here that no other pending ongoing litigations against Mrs. Arezoo Esfahani.
This thus meant that following the provisions of Section 48A of the act Mrs. Arezoo Esfahani
would not be allowed to appeal the decision of the AAT or apply for protection visa again (as
there was no jurisdictional issue with the decision). Thus she would ideally have to be removed
to her country of domicile which is Iran. In such a situation the only recourse available to Mrs.
Arezoo Esfahani is the ministerial intervention as per the provisions of Section 48B of the act.
A protection visa of this class is defined under the provisions of Section 35 of the
Migration Act, 1958. Section 35 (aa) of the act provides for circumstances under which a
minister would consider grant of such a visa and states that where a minister is convinced that
the removal of such a non-citizen would amount to significant harm to person removed2. The
definition of significant harm is provided for in Section 35 (2A) of the act. This section provides
that arbitrary loss of life (subsection i), treatment or punishment that is cruel or inhuman
(subsection ii) and degrading treatment or punishment (subsection iii) would be construed as
significant harm. In such a case the minister would be compelled to consider the application of
such a person. Thus, from the above provisions we see that that Mrs. Arezoo Esfahani qualifies
as someone who would face significant harm id removed to her home country and is eligible to
2 Schuck, Peter H. "Law and the Study of Migration." Migration Theory. Routledge, 2013. 247-266.

3GRADUATE DIPLOMA IN MIGRATION LAW
receive a protection visa from Australia. Section 35 (2C) of the act defines the ways in which a
person becomes ineligible for the protection visa under this act and Mrs. Arezoo Esfahani does
not fall under any of the categories defined in the section3. It is reiterated that Mrs. Arezoo
Esfahani is not a danger to Australian social or political security.
Mrs. Arezoo Esfahani had been examined by a clinical psychologist Dr. Nasima Jahandar
and the doctor’s expert report states that she has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD)4. The cause of the PTSD has been determined to be the violent experiences she
had in Iran and it is established that when a person suffers from such a condition recollecting the
incident that caused the trauma or talking about related matters could be significantly difficult for
the person and may even cause emotional turmoil5. It is also established that Mrs. Arezoo
Esfahani has stated that she is not comfortable in discussing the traumatic incidents in the
presence of a male and the tribunal member who determined her case (and decided that her
contentions were not sufficient or credible) was a man. Thus form such an observation it
becomes clear that she could not adequately communicate the way in which she had faced
degrading and cruel treatment and the male member of the tribunal could not satisfactorily
conduct such an enquiry. By virtue of this the decision of the AAT stands to be construed as a
gross miscarriage of justice6. Due to the exceptional circumstances for this determination I, as
Mrs. Arezoo Esfahani’s registered migration agent, humbly urge you to exercise your powers
under Section 48B of the act7. From the circumstances stated above there is a conspicuous need
3 Freilich, Joshua D., and Moshe Addad. Migration, culture conflict and crime. Routledge, 2017.
4 Yehuda, Rachel, et al. "Post-traumatic stress disorder." Nature Reviews Disease Primers 1 (2015): 15057.
5 Trimble, Michael R. "Post-traumatic stress disorder: History of a concept." Trauma and its wake. Routledge, 2013.
31-39.
6 Sonn, Christopher C., et al. "Negotiating belonging in Australia through storytelling and encounter." Identities 21.5
(2014): 551-569.
7 Castles, Stephen, Graeme Hugo, and Ellie Vasta. "Rethinking migration and diversity in Australia:
introduction." Journal of Intercultural Studies 34.2 (2013): 115-121.

4GRADUATE DIPLOMA IN MIGRATION LAW
for such an intervention to provide the appropriate relief which Mrs. Arezoo Esfahani is legally
entitled to8.
I ask that you take the above into consideration when assessing my request for Ministerial
Intervention and am grateful for this consideration.
Yours sincerely,
[signature]
[Full name]
8 Lucassen, Leo. "Population and migration." The Oxford handbook of cities in world history. 2013.

5GRADUATE DIPLOMA IN MIGRATION LAW
Bibliography
Statutes
Migration Act, 1958.
Articles
Castles, Stephen, Graeme Hugo, and Ellie Vasta. "Rethinking migration and diversity in
Australia: introduction." Journal of Intercultural Studies 34.2 (2013): 115-121.
Freilich, Joshua D., and Moshe Addad. Migration, culture conflict and crime. Routledge, 2017.
Lucassen, Leo. "Population and migration." The Oxford handbook of cities in world history.
2013.
Schuck, Peter H. "Law and the Study of Migration." Migration Theory. Routledge, 2013. 247-
266.
Sonn, Christopher C., et al. "Negotiating belonging in Australia through storytelling and
encounter." Identities 21.5 (2014): 551-569.
Trimble, Michael R. "Post-traumatic stress disorder: History of a concept." Trauma and its wake.
Routledge, 2013. 31-39.
Yehuda, Rachel, et al. "Post-traumatic stress disorder." Nature Reviews Disease Primers 1
(2015): 15057.