1835581 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by an individual from Ghana. The applicant claimed to have been targeted by his uncle for forced religious conversion from Christianity to Islam, alleging attacks as recently as the period between 2011 and 2014. The applicant stated he feared returning to Ghana, asserting he would be killed.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa, specifically whether he was a refugee within the meaning of section 36(2)(a) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) or, alternatively, whether Australia had protection obligations under the complementary protection criterion in section 36(2)(aa). This required assessing whether the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution due to his religion and whether there was a real risk of significant harm upon removal from Australia.

The Tribunal noted that while a Ghana Police report and medical forms from August 2011 indicated the applicant had been assaulted by his uncle for refusing to convert to Islam, this evidence was filed after the applicant's second hearing and was not before the original decision-maker or the Tribunal during its hearings. Crucially, the Tribunal observed a three-year delay between the alleged serious assault in August 2011 and the applicant's departure from Ghana in September 2014, for which no explanation was provided in the evidence. This delay, coupled with the late introduction of evidence, contributed to the Tribunal's assessment of the applicant's claims.

Having concluded that the applicant did not satisfy the refugee criterion under section 36(2)(a), the Tribunal proceeded to consider the complementary protection criterion under section 36(2)(aa). However, the Tribunal was not satisfied that Australia had protection obligations under this criterion. Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa.