1702954 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the protection visa applications of five applicants, who claimed they would face serious and significant harm if returned to Iraq. The primary applicant, an Iraqi Chaldean Christian, detailed past and ongoing threats and violence directed at him and his community, including attacks by Shi'a militias and extremist Kurds, and the destruction of his business due to his involvement in selling alcohol.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicants met the criteria for a protection visa under section 36(2)(a) of the Migration Act 1958, which concerns being a refugee with a well-founded fear of persecution, or under section 36(2)(aa), which relates to complementary protection where there is a real risk of significant harm as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of removal to a receiving country. The Tribunal also had to consider the definitions of "significant harm," "refugee," and "well-founded fear of persecution" as outlined in the Act, and whether any effective protection measures were available to the applicants in Iraq.

The Tribunal found that the applicants did not satisfy the criterion under section 36(2)(a) or (aa). While acknowledging the difficult circumstances described by the applicants, the Tribunal was not satisfied that they met the legal thresholds for protection. Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicants protection visas.