1814513 (Refugee)

The applicant, a Nigerian Christian of Yoruba ethnicity, sought a protection visa in Australia. The dispute concerned whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa, specifically whether there were substantial grounds for believing that, upon removal from Australia, the applicant would face a real risk of significant harm. The decision was made by the Tribunal, presided over by David McCulloch.

The Tribunal was required to determine the credibility of the applicant and whether, based on accepted claims, the criteria for protection under the Act were fulfilled. This involved considering both the refugee criterion under s 36(2)(a) and the complementary protection criterion under s 36(2)(aa), which applies if a person faces a real risk of significant harm as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of removal from Australia. The Tribunal also had to consider relevant guidelines and country information, including the DFAT Country Information Report – Nigeria, 3 December 2020.

The Tribunal concluded that the decision under review should be affirmed. While the applicant claimed to fear communal violence from armed Fulani herdsmen, Boko Haram, and kidnapping due to his ethnicity and religion in Nigeria, the Tribunal found issues with the applicant's credibility. The Tribunal noted that there was no suggestion that the applicant satisfied the criteria by being a member of the same family unit as a person who held a protection visa. Consequently, the Tribunal found that the applicant did not satisfy the criterion in s 36(2) of the Act.