1513929 (Refugee)

This matter concerned protection visa applications made by a family unit. The primary applicants claimed they would suffer significant harm if returned to Pakistan due to their Ahmadi religious identity. The Tribunal was required to consider whether the applicants met the criteria for the grant of protection visas under the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth), specifically whether they had a well-founded fear of persecution or faced a real risk of significant harm.

The legal issues before the Tribunal included determining the extent of discrimination and persecution faced by Ahmadis in Pakistan, as evidenced by country information reports, and assessing whether this discrimination and potential harm constituted "significant harm" or persecution for the purposes of the *Migration Act*. The Tribunal also had to consider the application of Ministerial Direction No. 56, which mandated the consideration of specific policy guidelines and country information.

The Tribunal applied the principles of complementary protection, noting that a person may qualify for a visa if they face a real risk of significant harm as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of removal to a receiving country, even if they do not meet the refugee criterion. Drawing on the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's Pakistan Country Information Report, the Tribunal found that Ahmadis in Pakistan face a high level of official discrimination, including legal restrictions on religious practice, political discrimination, and societal discrimination, which has led to increased physical attacks and desecration of religious sites. The Tribunal was satisfied that the first and second applicants faced a real risk of significant harm, thus meeting the criterion under s.36(2)(a) of the *Migration Act*.

Consequently, the Tribunal remitted the matter for reconsideration with directions that the first and second applicants satisfy s.36(2)(a) of the *Migration Act*, and that the other applicants, as children of the first and second applicants and members of the same family unit, satisfy s.36(2)(b)(i) of the *Migration Act*.