1412479 (Refugee)

This matter concerned an application for review of a decision made by the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) regarding a protection visa application. The applicant, a citizen of Pakistan, claimed he feared persecution by the Taliban upon return to his home country due to reasons including adopting Western culture, changing his religion, refusing demands for money, and refusing to join them for jihad. He also asserted that Pakistani authorities could not protect him, citing the failure to protect prominent figures.

The RRT was required to determine whether the applicant had established a well-founded fear of persecution for a Convention reason, specifically a change of religion, and whether Pakistan was the applicant's "receiving country" for the purposes of section 36(2)(aa) of the Act. The Tribunal was also obliged to consider relevant policy guidelines and country information assessments.

The Tribunal found that while the applicant claimed to have converted to Christianity, his evidence did not support this assertion. The applicant's inability to recall the names or denominations of churches he claimed to have attended, despite attending them for extended periods, rendered his claim of conversion implausible. Consequently, the RRT concluded that the applicant had not established a well-founded fear of persecution based on a change of religion. The Tribunal accepted that Pakistan was the applicant's receiving country.