1726782 (Refugee)

The applicant sought review of a decision by the Refugee Tribunal to affirm the refusal of a protection visa. The applicant, who initially claimed to be a Sunni Muslim businessman from Pakistan, later asserted he had converted to Christianity and faced threats of harm from followers of the Pakistani Taliban due to his religious activities. The Tribunal considered country information and policy guidelines relevant to protection claims.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the applicant qualified for a protection visa, either as a refugee under section 5H of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) or on complementary protection grounds under section 36(2)(aa). This required determining if the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of religion, or if there were substantial grounds for believing he would suffer significant harm as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of removal to Pakistan.

The court affirmed the Tribunal's decision, concluding that the applicant had not established a well-founded fear of persecution. The court noted inconsistencies in the applicant's evidence and found that he had not demonstrated that he would be unable or unwilling to avail himself of the protection of Pakistan. Furthermore, the court found no evidence that the applicant would suffer significant harm as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of removal, nor that effective protection measures were unavailable to him in Pakistan. The applicant did not satisfy the criteria for a protection visa under section 36(2).