1617958 (Refugee)

The applicant, a Malian national of Fula ethnicity and Catholic faith, sought a protection visa. The applicant claimed to fear persecution due to his family's connection to the Malian army, specifically his deceased father's role as an intelligence officer who gathered information on rebel groups. The applicant alleged that rebel groups killed his family, shot him, and would target him if he returned to Mali due to a perception that he shared his father's political views and possessed valuable information. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered the applicant's claims and ultimately remitted the matter for reconsideration, directing that the applicant satisfied the criteria under s.36(2)(a) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth).

The primary legal issue before the AAT was to determine the credibility of the applicant's claims and whether, on the accepted facts, the criteria for the grant of a protection visa were fulfilled. This involved assessing whether the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, or alternatively, whether Australia had protection obligations under the complementary protection criterion due to a real risk of significant harm upon removal.

The AAT reasoned that the applicant's claims, if accepted, established that he was a person in respect of whom Australia had protection obligations under s.36(2)(a) of the *Migration Act 1958*. The applicant's stated fear stemmed from his Fula ethnicity, his Catholic religion, and his membership in the particular social group comprising his family, given his father's prominent role in the Malian army and the consequent targeting of his family by rebel groups. The AAT concluded that the matter should be remitted for reconsideration with a direction that the applicant satisfied s.36(2)(a).