1805956 (Refugee)

The applicant, a citizen of Pakistan, sought review of a delegate of the Minister for Home Affairs' decision to refuse her a protection visa. The applicant arrived in Australia in November 2015 and applied for the visa in November 2017. Her claims for protection were based on fears of harm from extremist groups in Pakistan, including the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Haqqani group, due to her brother's past work for a coalition country government agency. She also cited her ethnicity as Hazara and her religion as Shi’a Muslim as potential reasons for persecution, referencing past sectarian violence and threats to her family.

The court was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa under the Migration Act 1958 (Cth). Specifically, the court had to assess whether the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, and whether there was a real chance of persecution in all areas of Pakistan. The court also considered whether effective protection measures were available to the applicant in Pakistan and whether she could take reasonable steps to avoid any risk of harm.

The court affirmed the delegate's decision, finding that the applicant did not satisfy the criteria for a protection visa. While acknowledging the applicant's stated fears and her Hazara Shi’a ethnicity, the court was not satisfied that these fears were well-founded to the extent required by the Act. The court considered the country information and the passage of time, noting that the political and security circumstances in Pakistan had significantly changed. The court concluded that there were no substantial grounds to believe that the applicant would suffer significant harm as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of being removed from Australia. The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa.