1909167 (Refugee)

This matter concerned an application for review of decisions made by a delegate of the Minister for Home Affairs to refuse the applicant a protection visa. The applicant, a stateless Faili Kurd from Iran, claimed to have no right to citizenship in either Iraq or Iran, limited rights and access to basic services in Iran, and faced economic hardship. He also alleged that his ethnic group was persecuted, and that he had been arrested and detained by police. The applicant departed Iran using a fraudulent passport and feared imprisonment or death if returned due to his use of the document and his ethnic background.

The legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa under section 36(2)(a) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) as a refugee, or alternatively, under section 36(2)(aa) as a person facing significant harm if removed from Australia. The Tribunal was required to consider the applicant's well-founded fear of persecution based on his race, ethnicity, and potential membership of a particular social group, as well as the real chance of suffering significant harm upon return to Iran.

The Tribunal found that the applicant was a stateless Faili Kurd who had experienced persecution and denial of fundamental rights in Iran. It accepted that he had departed Iran with a fraudulent passport and that his registration as a Faili Kurd had ceased, making re-registration impossible. Considering the evidence, including country information, the Tribunal concluded that there was a real chance the applicant would suffer persecution on return to Iran.

Consequently, the Tribunal remitted the decision concerning the applicant's Safe Haven Enterprise visa application made on 24 April 2018, with a direction that the applicant satisfies section 36(2)(a) of the *Migration Act*. The Tribunal also set aside the decision to refuse the applicant's Temporary Protection visa application made on 1 June 2021, substituting it with a decision that this visa application was not valid.