2013984 (Refugee)

This matter concerned a protection visa application made by a woman and her two sons, who claimed to be Coptic Christians from Khartoum, Sudan. The applicants alleged they had experienced discrimination, threats, and harassment in Sudan due to their religion and the eldest son's disabilities. The applicant's former husband, who was part of the original application, was no longer involved in this review.

The court was required to determine whether the applicants were owed protection under Australian law. Specifically, the issues included whether the applicants met the criteria for being a refugee, or alternatively, whether they faced a real risk of significant harm as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of being removed from Australia to Sudan, pursuant to the complementary protection criterion. The court also considered the definition of "significant harm" and the availability of effective protection measures in Sudan.

The Tribunal accepted that the applicants were Sudanese nationals and practising Coptic Christians. It also accepted that the second applicant has significant disabilities requiring ongoing care. The Tribunal found that the applicants' family members had been displaced and their church destroyed, and that the security situation in Sudan had deteriorated. The Tribunal concluded that the matter should be remitted for reconsideration, directing that the first and second applicants satisfy the refugee criterion, and the third applicant satisfy the criterion of being a member of the same family unit as the first applicant.