1833119 (Refugee)

This matter concerned an application for a Protection visa by a homosexual male from Ghana. The applicant claimed he feared persecution and harm, including being beaten, molested, and killed, due to his sexual identity. He asserted that Ghanaian law criminalises homosexuality, that the police offered no protection and sometimes participated in his mistreatment, and that his family and the general public harboured hatred towards gay men. The applicant arrived in Australia on a student visa but was unable to continue his studies due to financial difficulties, leaving him with no option but to seek protection in Australia. The decision under review affirmed the refusal to grant the applicant a Protection visa.

The court was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for a Protection visa under section 36(2)(a) of the Act, specifically whether he had a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of membership of a particular social group, namely homosexual males in Ghana. Additionally, the court considered whether the applicant met the complementary protection criterion under section 36(2)(aa) of the Act, which requires substantial grounds for believing that, as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of removal from Australia, there is a real risk that the applicant will suffer significant harm.

The court affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a Protection visa. It found that the applicant did not satisfy the criterion under section 36(2) of the Act. There was no suggestion that the applicant qualified for a visa based on being a family member of someone who met the refugee or complementary protection criteria. Consequently, the applicant failed to meet the requirements for the grant of a Protection visa.