1829933 (Refugee)

This matter concerned an application for review of a delegate of the Minister for Home Affairs' decision to refuse to grant the applicant, a citizen of Pakistan, a protection visa. The applicant arrived in Australia in 2010 and had held various temporary visas before applying for a protection visa in 2017. The applicant claimed to fear returning to Pakistan due to his conversion from Islam to Christianity, alleging he would face persecution from his family, community, and extremist groups.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa under section 36(2)(a) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth), specifically whether he was a refugee with a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of religion. This required the court to consider the applicant's account of his religious journey, including his interest in Christianity, his change from Sunni to Shia Islam, his subsequent distancing from all religion, his burning of religious books, and his baptism. The court also had to assess the credibility of his claims and the risk of harm he faced upon return to Pakistan, considering the country's political instability and the potential actions of his extended family, community, and extremist groups.

The court found that the applicant had provided a consistent and plausible account of the circumstances that led him to convert to Christianity. It was satisfied that the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of religion, and that there was a real chance he would be persecuted for this reason in Pakistan. The court noted that the applicant's fear was not confined to his immediate family but extended to his wider community and extremist groups, and that he could not rely on state protection. Consequently, the court remitted the decision under review to the delegate for reconsideration.