1707097 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application for a protection visa by a national of Yemen. The applicant claimed to fear persecution due to their family's past involvement with the military and their support for a youth movement, as well as secularism. The Tribunal had to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa under the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth).

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant qualified as a refugee under section 36(2)(a) of the *Migration Act*, which requires 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), which applies if there are substantial grounds for believing that the applicant faces a real risk of suffering significant harm as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of being removed from Australia to Yemen.

The Tribunal found that the applicant did not satisfy the definition of a refugee under section 36(2)(a). However, after considering the general security and humanitarian situation in Yemen, the Tribunal was satisfied that Australia owed protection obligations to the applicant under section 36(2)(aa). The Tribunal therefore remitted the matter for reconsideration with a direction that the applicant satisfies the criterion in section 36(2)(aa).