1814173 (Refugee)

This matter concerned a protection visa application made by a family claiming to be nationals of Pakistan. The applicants, who identified as Sunni ethnicity and Sunni Muslim religion and Hindko language speakers, sought protection on the basis of alleged persecution in Pakistan. The first applicant, a male, had arrived in Australia in 2007 and had returned to Pakistan on three occasions since then, with his last arrival in April 2012 on a student visa which was subsequently cancelled. The court was required to determine whether there was a real chance that the applicants would be persecuted in Pakistan for one of the five reasons specified in section 5J(1)(a) of the Act, or alternatively, whether there were substantial grounds to believe that, as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of their removal to Pakistan, they faced a real risk of suffering significant harm under section 36(2)(aa) of the Act.

The Tribunal considered the applicants' claims in light of the Refugee Law Guidelines, Complementary Protection Guidelines, and country information assessments. The Tribunal was not satisfied that the applicants met the criteria for a protection visa under either section 36(2)(a) or section 36(2)(aa) of the Act. Consequently, the Tribunal found that the applicants were unable to satisfy the further criteria under sections 36(2)(b) or (c) for the grant of the visa. The decision under review was affirmed.