1711613 (Refugee)

The applicant sought review of a decision by the Refugee Tribunal to refuse her a protection visa. The applicant, a Vietnamese national, had converted to Islam and married a Muslim man from [Country 1]. She claimed that her family in Vietnam strongly opposed her conversion and marriage, viewing it as a source of shame and dishonour, and had warned her of serious consequences. She feared isolation, retribution, and discrimination in Vietnam as a single Muslim woman disowned by her family, particularly if returned without her husband and child, who were already in Australia on protection visas.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa under section 36(2)(a) of the Migration Act 1958, specifically whether she had a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of religion or membership of a particular social group, and alternatively, whether she met the complementary protection criterion under section 36(2)(aa) due to a real risk of significant harm as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of removal to Vietnam. The Tribunal was required to consider the applicant's claims in light of relevant guidelines and country information, and to assess the risk of persecution or harm in Vietnam, including whether effective protection measures were available.

The Tribunal found that the applicant did not satisfy the criterion for being a refugee under section 36(2)(a). While acknowledging her conversion to Islam and her family's opposition, the Tribunal did not find that she had a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of religion or membership of a particular social group. Furthermore, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant did not meet the complementary protection criterion under section 36(2)(aa), as it was not satisfied that there was a real risk of significant harm as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of her removal to Vietnam.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa.