1413547 (Refugee)

The applicant, a citizen of Pakistan, sought a protection visa, claiming he feared persecution upon return due to his conversion to Shia Islam and his marriage to a Shia Sayyed woman. He alleged he had been attacked by friends for his intended conversion and marriage, and that his family would kill him because they were Sunni and he had "reverted" due to his wife's strict family. He also claimed the Pakistani authorities would not protect him due to corruption. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa under the relevant legislation, considering Ministerial Direction No. 56, which mandates the consideration of policy guidelines and country information assessments.

The Tribunal's reasoning focused on the applicant's failure to satisfy the criteria under section 36(2) of the Act. It noted that there was no suggestion the applicant qualified for a protection visa based on being a member of the same family unit as a person who already held a protection visa. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant did not meet the necessary requirements for the grant of a protection visa. The decision of the Tribunal was to affirm the original decision not to grant the applicant a Protection visa.