2115158 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the protection visa applications of the first and second named applicants, who are father and son. The dispute concerned whether the applicants had established claims for protection in Australia, with the first applicant initially indicating he had no reason to fear returning to Pakistan. The second applicant, the son, had previously had his protection visa application remitted for reconsideration.

The Tribunal was required to determine if the first applicant met the criteria for a protection visa under section 36(2)(a) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) as a refugee, or under section 36(2)(aa) as a person facing significant harm as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of removal. Additionally, the Tribunal had to consider if the first applicant was a member of the same family unit as the second applicant, as per section 36(2)(b).

The Tribunal accepted the first applicant's ethnicity as Sunni Muslim of Punjabi ethnicity and his ongoing contact with his parents in Pakistan. However, it noted that the applicant's initial application provided no claims for protection, with subsequent claims only being made in an email dated 24 February 2022. These later claims detailed a relationship with a Shia Hazara woman, the resulting children, and threats from a terrorist organisation targeting Shias, which had led to threats against his parents. The Tribunal found that the first applicant did not satisfy the criteria for being a refugee or facing significant harm under sections 36(2)(a) or (aa). However, it was satisfied that the first applicant was a member of the same family unit as his son, who had previously had his case remitted with a direction that he satisfied section 36(2)(a).

Consequently, the Tribunal remitted the matter for reconsideration with the direction that the first applicant satisfied section 36(2)(b)(i) of the *Migration Act* by being a member of the same family unit as the second applicant. The Tribunal also noted it did not have jurisdiction in the matter of the second applicant.