1820514 (Refugee)

This matter concerned a protection visa application made by an applicant from Ghana. The applicant claimed to have left Ghana due to threats to his life and well-being stemming from his conversion to Christianity and his refusal to accept a chieftaincy position within his royal lineage. The decision under review was made by the Tribunal, presided over by Member Rachel Da Costa.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant was a person in respect of whom Australia held protection obligations, specifically whether he met the criteria for being a refugee under section 36(2)(a) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). This required an assessment of whether the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of religion or membership of a particular social group, and whether effective protection measures were available to him in Ghana.

The Tribunal found the applicant's evidence to be largely consistent and credible. It accepted his core claims regarding his royal lineage, his conversion to Christianity, and the subsequent pressure and threats he faced from his community and family to renounce his new faith and accept the chieftaincy. The Tribunal noted that while some of the country information relied upon was outdated, this did not ultimately detract from the applicant's claims. The Tribunal concluded that the applicant was a person in respect of whom Australia had protection obligations under section 36(2)(a) of the *Migration Act*.

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