1713519 (Refugee)

This matter concerned an application for a protection visa by a South African national who claimed to be a convert from Islam to Christianity and feared harm from Al-Qaeda. The applicant had arrived in Australia on multiple occasions between 2012 and 2016, with the protection visa application lodged in April 2016. The applicant's personal history, including his ethnicity, languages spoken, marital status, and educational and employment background in South Africa, was detailed in the application.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was the credibility of the applicant and whether, based on his accepted claims, he met the criteria for the grant of a protection visa. This involved assessing whether the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution or faced a real risk of significant harm as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of being removed from Australia to South Africa. The Tribunal was required to consider the provisions of the *Migration Act 1958* concerning refugees and complementary protection, including the definitions of significant harm and the availability of effective protection measures in a receiving country.

The Tribunal found that the applicant was not a credible witness, which was the central reason for its conclusion. While the applicant claimed to be a convert from Islam to Christianity and feared harm from Al-Qaeda, the Tribunal's assessment of his evidence led it to conclude that his claims were not substantiated to the required standard. Consequently, the Tribunal determined that the applicant did not satisfy the criteria for a protection visa under section 36(2)(a) or section 36(2)(aa) of the Act.

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