1815050 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the case of an applicant seeking a protection visa. The applicant, who arrived in Australia in October 2017, claimed to be a Pashtun from the Swat District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. He asserted that he was a known activist against the Taliban, an active member with strong connections to the Village Defence Committee and the Awami National Party, and had received death threats, with family members having been killed by the Taliban. The applicant also raised concerns about his mental health and access to treatment.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa under section 36(2)(a) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) as a refugee, or alternatively, under section 36(2)(aa) as a person in respect of whom Australia has protection obligations due to a real risk of significant harm upon removal to Pakistan. This involved assessing the applicant's well-founded fear of persecution based on his ethnicity, imputed political opinion, and membership in a particular social group, as well as the availability of effective state protection in Pakistan.

The Tribunal considered the applicant's claims in light of the 'Refugee Law Guidelines', 'Complementary Protection Guidelines', and country information assessments. It noted that Swat Valley, while historically a tourist destination, had seen a resurgence of activist and terrorist groups, including the Tehrik-i-Taliban. The Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant had established a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of imputed political opinion and membership of a particular social group, and that there was no effective state protection available to him in Pakistan. The Tribunal concluded that the applicant was a person in respect of whom Australia had protection obligations under section 36(2)(a) of the Act.

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