1815529 (Refugee)

The applicant, an asylum seeker from Uganda, sought review of the decision to refuse him a protection visa. The applicant claimed he feared persecution or significant harm upon return to Uganda due to his past defiance of police demands and his failure to return after attending the Commonwealth Games in Australia.

The court was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa, specifically whether he was a refugee within the meaning of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) or entitled to complementary protection. This involved assessing whether the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of political opinion or membership of a particular social group, and whether there was a real chance of such persecution in Uganda.

The Tribunal found the applicant's claims regarding police recruitment attempts and subsequent threats to be not credible. It noted that a single in-person approach and anonymous phone calls over 18 months did not constitute a concerted effort to forcibly recruit him, and that the applicant had not taken precautions one might expect if he genuinely feared abduction. The Tribunal also found the applicant's account of his arrest in January 2018 to be unconvincing, and that there was no demonstrable link between this arrest and the alleged recruitment efforts. Consequently, the Tribunal was not satisfied that the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa, finding that he did not satisfy the criteria under s 36(2)(a) or (aa) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth).