1807132 (Refugee)

The applicant, a Sunni Muslim man of Pashtun ethnicity from Pakistan, sought a protection visa in Australia. He claimed to have a well-founded fear of persecution due to his past involvement with the Awami National Party (ANP) and membership in a Village Defence Committee, which had led to threats and an attack by the Taliban. The applicant contended that he could not relocate within Pakistan and that the Pakistani government was unable to provide effective protection.

The court was required to determine whether Australia owed protection obligations to the applicant under the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). Specifically, the court had to assess whether the applicant met the criteria for being a refugee, which involved considering his well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, and whether effective protection measures were available to him in Pakistan.

The court found that the applicant was a national of Pakistan and accepted his claimed identity. It also determined that the applicant did not have a right to enter and reside in any country other than Pakistan, thus s 36(3) of the Act did not apply. The court concluded that Australia had protection obligations in respect of the applicant, satisfying the criterion in s 36(2)(a) of the Act.

Consequently, the Tribunal remitted the matter for reconsideration with a direction that the applicant satisfies s 36(2)(a) of the *Migration Act*.