1502175 (Refugee)

The applicant, a Sunni Muslim from Lebanon, sought review of the Minister's decision to refuse his protection visa application. The applicant claimed he had converted to Jehovah's Witnesses and feared persecution, including death, from his family and community if returned to Lebanon. Due to prior court decisions, the Tribunal was only able to consider the applicant's current application under the complementary protection criterion, rather than the criteria under the Refugees Convention.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether there were substantial grounds for believing that, as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of the applicant's removal from Australia to Lebanon, there was a real risk that he would suffer significant harm. This required an assessment of the applicant's claims of religious conversion and the potential consequences thereof in Lebanon, specifically whether these consequences amounted to "significant harm" as defined by the Migration Act 1958.

The Tribunal considered the applicant's statements regarding his alleged conversion and the fear of violence from his family and community. However, the Tribunal found that, based on the evidence presented, it was not satisfied that Australia had protection obligations under the complementary protection criterion. Consequently, the applicant did not satisfy the criteria for a protection visa.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa.