1926155 (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 Iraq, a protection visa. The applicant, a Sunni Muslim from a wealthy professional family in Baghdad, claimed he faced persecution due to his ethnicity and religion. He alleged he and his father had been targeted by Shia Muslim militias, leading to his departure from Iraq on multiple occasions. Since arriving in Australia, the applicant had converted to Christianity, been baptised, and actively participated in church activities, with his wife and child also attending.

The court was required to determine whether the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of membership of a particular social group or imputed political opinion, and whether he would be at risk of harm if returned to Iraq. Specifically, the court needed to assess the credibility and genuineness of the applicant's conversion to Christianity and his subsequent engagement with the Christian faith in Australia, in light of country information indicating that while religious freedom is guaranteed in Iraq, apostasy or conversion from Islam is prohibited and carries societal disapproval.

The court found that the delegate's decision had been made without hearing the applicant, which was a procedural error. The court considered the extensive evidence presented by the applicant, including a baptism certificate, a letter from a pastor detailing his integration into the church community, a statutory declaration from a friend attesting to his conversion and improved well-being, church volunteer records, and video evidence of his baptism and participation in church services. This evidence, alongside the applicant's account of past persecution and the country information regarding the risks associated with conversion from Islam in Iraq, led the court to conclude that the delegate's decision was not adequately reasoned. Consequently, the court remitted the decision for redetermination.