1608734 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the case of an applicant seeking a Protection visa. The applicant, a Shia Muslim of the Turi Bangash tribe from Pakistan, claimed to have faced multiple attacks and an attempted abduction by Sunni extremists due to his religious affiliation and his family's prominent role in their community. The core dispute revolved around whether the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution or faced a real risk of significant harm upon return to Pakistan.

The Tribunal was required to determine if the applicant met the criteria for a Protection visa under section 36(2)(a) of the Migration Act 1958, which concerns a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion. Alternatively, the Tribunal had to assess if the applicant met the complementary protection criterion under section 36(2)(aa), which requires substantial grounds for believing there is a real risk of significant harm as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of removal to Pakistan. The Tribunal also had to consider relevant policy guidelines and country information.

The Tribunal found that the applicant had established a well-founded fear of persecution. It reasoned that the applicant's claims of attacks on his family, including injuries to his cousin and siblings, and his own attempted abduction by Sunni extremists, demonstrated a real chance of persecution for reasons of his religion and membership in the Turi Bangash tribe. The Tribunal concluded that these events constituted serious harm and that the risk was not faced by the population generally but was personal to the applicant due to his specific circumstances.

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