1516115 (Refugee)

This matter concerned an application for a protection visa by a non-citizen from Iran. The applicant claimed to be a Faili Kurd who had experienced discrimination in employment and mistreatment at university due to his background. He also alleged he had been a victim of assault and racial abuse, accused of theft, and had a failed asylum seeker claim from a Western country. The applicant's father was born in Iraq and expelled to Iran with other Kurds, and some relatives were believed to have been killed. The applicant's mother was born in Ilam and was Faili Kurdish. The applicant's father obtained Iranian citizenship, but due to his Iraqi birth, he and consequently the applicant were perceived as Kurdish rather than Iranian, leading to employment rejections or dismissals. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) reviewed the decision not to grant the visa.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa under section 36 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth). Specifically, the Tribunal had to determine if the applicant qualified as a refugee under Article 1A(2) of the Refugees Convention, owing to a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion. Alternatively, the Tribunal considered whether the applicant met the complementary protection criterion under section 36(2)(aa) of the Act, which requires substantial grounds for believing that removal from Australia would result in a real risk of significant harm.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the protection visa. It found that the applicant did not satisfy the criteria under section 36(2) of the Act. The decision noted that the applicant did not claim to be a member of the same family unit as a person who satisfied the refugee or complementary protection criteria and held a protection visa. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant failed to meet the requirements for the grant of a protection visa.