1510767 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the case of a Mongolian applicant seeking a protection visa. The applicant claimed to be a homosexual man who had experienced harassment, physical attacks, and verbal mistreatment in Mongolia due to his sexual orientation. The Tribunal was tasked with determining the applicant's credibility and whether, based on his accepted claims, he met the criteria for a protection visa.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant satisfied the criteria for a protection visa, specifically under section 36(2)(a) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) (the Act) concerning a well-founded fear of persecution, or alternatively, under section 36(2)(aa) of the Act, which addresses complementary protection obligations where there is a real risk of significant harm upon removal from Australia. The Tribunal also had to consider the relevance of information provided by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) regarding LGBTI issues in Mongolia.

The Tribunal concluded that the applicant did not meet the refugee criterion under section 36(2)(a). However, it found that the applicant did satisfy the complementary protection criterion under section 36(2)(aa). The Tribunal reasoned that while the applicant might not have established a well-founded fear of persecution in the strict sense, there were substantial grounds to believe that, as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of being removed to Mongolia, he faced a real risk of suffering significant harm. This conclusion was informed by the applicant's detailed statement of past experiences and the DFAT information concerning the treatment of homosexual individuals in Mongolia.

Consequently, the Tribunal remitted the matter for reconsideration with a direction that the applicant satisfies section 36(2)(aa) of the *Migration Act 1958*.