1819032 (Refugee)

This matter concerned an application for a protection visa by a man from Sierra Leone. The applicant claimed he would face harm if returned to his home country due to his homosexuality, his family's political affiliations, and mistreatment by his family and a gang. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa, specifically whether he was a refugee or would face significant harm upon removal from Australia.

The Tribunal considered the applicant's claims of being a homosexual Muslim man in a relationship, facing harm from the Sierra Leone People's Party due to his father's support of a rival political party, and experiencing mistreatment from his family. The applicant also alleged past incidents of being attacked by a crowd and a gang, and feared prosecution by the new government. The Tribunal was tasked with assessing the credibility of these claims and determining if they constituted a "real risk" of significant harm, as defined by the Migration Act 1958.

In its reasoning, the Tribunal applied the "real risk" test, which imposes the same standard as the "real chance" test for assessing a well-founded fear of persecution. The Tribunal considered country information and guidelines relevant to protection status determination. Crucially, the Tribunal found that the applicant's social media activity indicated contact with other siblings, a relationship with a woman, and a child, which contradicted his claims of having no knowledge of his siblings and his late claim to be bisexual. Based on this assessment of the evidence and the applicant's claims, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant did not satisfy the criteria for a protection visa.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa.