2320868 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the case of an applicant for a protection visa who had converted from Islam to the Mormon faith. The applicant claimed that upon return to Tonga, she would face persecution due to her religious conversion, including threats from her former community and the inability to practice her faith freely. The applicant also raised claims related to economic hardship and family violence, specifically discriminatory household roles assigned to women and younger children.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution for a refugee nexus reason, or if there were substantial grounds for believing that, as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of removal to Tonga, she would suffer significant harm. The Tribunal also needed to consider whether any exclusion clauses applied.

The Tribunal noted that while the applicant's initial claims focused on religious persecution, her oral evidence provided a more nuanced account of her upbringing and conversion. The Tribunal acknowledged the applicant's conversion to Mormonism and her subsequent work as a missionary. It also considered the provisions of the *Migration Act 1958* regarding refugee status and complementary protection, including the definition of significant harm and the circumstances under which a real risk of such harm is not taken to exist. The Tribunal applied Ministerial Direction No. 84 and relevant guidelines.

Ultimately, the Tribunal concluded that the matter should be remitted for reconsideration. The Tribunal directed that the applicant satisfies the criterion for complementary protection under section 36(2)(aa) of the *Migration Act 1958*.