2102207 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa by a Sudanese national. The applicant claimed to be of Darfuri origin, belonging to the Al-Salamat clan, and alleged past persecution and fear of future persecution upon return to Sudan due to his family's association with the Justice and Equality Party and his own alleged involvement in the Darfuri Movement. The delegate had refused the application, but the applicant provided substantial further information to the Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant was a person to whom Australia owed protection obligations, specifically whether he met the criteria for being a refugee under section 36(2)(a) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). This involved assessing whether the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, and whether such persecution would involve serious harm and systematic and discriminatory conduct. The Tribunal also considered the complementary protection criterion under section 36(2)(aa) as an alternative basis for protection obligations.

The Tribunal found that the applicant had provided substantial further evidence, including country information and reports from various agencies. It noted that the applicant's father and elder brother were activists within the Darfuri People's Movement in the Justice and Equality Party, and that the applicant himself had been arrested, interrogated, and assaulted, being accused of participating in these movements. The Tribunal concluded that the applicant had established a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of his imputed political opinion and his ethnicity as a Darfuri, which constituted membership of a particular social group. The Tribunal was satisfied that Australia had protection obligations towards the applicant under section 36(2)(a) of the *Migration Act*.

Consequently, the Tribunal remitted the matter for reconsideration with a direction that the applicant satisfies section 36(2)(a) of the *Migration Act*.