1713290 (Refugee)

This matter concerned an application for a protection visa by an Iranian citizen. The applicant claimed to be an ethnic Turkish Muslim who had no religion. The dispute before the Tribunal was whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa, specifically under the refugee criterion or complementary protection grounds. The Tribunal was constituted by Rodger Shanahan.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the applicant was a person in respect of whom Australia had protection obligations under the *1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees* (the Refugees Convention), as defined in Article 1A(2), or whether there were substantial grounds for believing that the applicant would suffer significant harm as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of removal from Australia, pursuant to the complementary protection criterion. The Tribunal was also required to consider relevant Ministerial Directions and policy guidelines.

The Tribunal noted that the applicant had not satisfied the refugee criterion under section 36(2)(a) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). Furthermore, the applicant had not demonstrated that he met the complementary protection criterion under section 36(2)(aa) of the Act. The Tribunal also found that the applicant did not satisfy the criterion of being a member of the same family unit as a person who held a protection visa. Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa.