1500978 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application for a protection visa made by a woman born in [Country 1], who claimed Tongan citizenship. The dispute concerned whether the applicant met the criteria for the grant of a protection visa under the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) and the *Migration Regulations 1994* (Cth).

The legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the applicant satisfied the criteria for a protection visa, specifically under section 36(2)(a) of the Act, which relates to Australia's obligations under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol (the Refugees Convention), or under the complementary protection criterion in section 36(2)(aa). The Tribunal was also required to consider relevant policy guidelines and country information.

The Tribunal's reasoning focused on the definition of a refugee under Article 1A(2) of the Refugees Convention, which requires a well-founded fear of persecution for specific reasons, leading to an inability or unwillingness to avail oneself of the protection of one's country of nationality. The Tribunal also considered the complementary protection criterion, which requires substantial grounds for believing there is a real risk of significant harm as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of removal. The applicant did not suggest she was a family member of someone who held a protection visa.

Ultimately, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa, finding that she did not satisfy the criteria under section 36(2) of the Act.