1813075 (Refugee)

The applicant sought a protection visa, claiming he feared persecution if returned to Pakistan or South Africa. He alleged he had been involved with the MQM political party in Pakistan, which led to threats and violence against him and his family, including an armed assault on his home. After leaving Pakistan, he moved to South Africa where he experienced further threats, business robberies, kidnapping threats, and violent attacks, which he attributed to both the MQM party and local gangs. He argued that authorities in both countries were unable or unwilling to protect him. The court was required to determine whether the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of political opinion or membership of a particular social group, and whether Australia had protection obligations towards him under the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth).

The Tribunal found that the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution. The reasoning focused on the applicant's detailed account of threats and violence stemming from his political affiliations in Pakistan and the subsequent xenophobic attacks and criminal activity he experienced in South Africa. The Tribunal considered the applicant's attempts to seek safety within South Africa by relocating between cities, and his assertion that local authorities provided no effective protection. The legal principles applied involved the definition of a refugee under section 5H of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth), which requires a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, and the absence of effective protection measures in the receiving country.

The Tribunal concluded that the applicant satisfied the criterion for a protection visa under section 36(2)(a) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). Consequently, the matter was remitted for reconsideration with directions that the first applicant meets the criteria under section 36(2)(a) and that other applicants, as members of the same family unit, meet the criteria under section 36(2)(b)(i).