1807672 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the claims of several applicants, nationals of Papua New Guinea, for a protection visa. The primary applicant, the mother of the secondary applicants, had arrived in Australia in 2008 and made multiple subsequent entries and departures. The secondary applicants also arrived in Australia on various visas over several years. Their protection visa application was initially refused by a delegate of the Minister for Home Affairs, leading to the merits review application before the Tribunal.

The central legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the applicants met the criteria for a protection visa under section 36(2)(a) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) (the Act), and if not, whether they were entitled to complementary protection under section 36(2)(aa) of the Act. The applicants' claims were based on their membership in particular social groups, specifically those with responsibility or imputed responsibility for payback compensation within their tribe, and for the female applicants, their status as women and girls in Papua New Guinea, facing a risk of harm due to domestic violence and systemic failures in state protection.

The Tribunal found that the applicants were refugees within the meaning of section 5H of the Act. It determined that there was a real chance that in the reasonably foreseeable future, the applicants would be persecuted by reason of their membership in particular social groups. These groups were identified as those belonging to the [Tribe 1] with responsibility or imputed responsibility for payback compensation, and for the female applicants, Papua New Guinean women and girls. The Tribunal concluded that their fear of persecution was well-founded, satisfying the refugee criterion under section 36(2)(a). Consequently, the Tribunal was not required to consider the complementary protection criterion.