2403426 (Refugee)

This matter concerned an application for a protection visa by a male citizen of the Solomon Islands. The applicant claimed he was forced to leave his village due to tribal conflict over land, which resulted in his village being burnt down and threats against his life. He sought to engage Australia's protection obligations under either the refugee criterion in s 36(2)(a) or the complementary protection criterion in s 36(2)(aa) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). The decision was made by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa under s 36(2)(a) or s 36(2)(aa) of the Act. This involved assessing whether there were substantial grounds for believing that, as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of being removed from Australia to the Solomon Islands, the applicant would suffer significant harm. The Tribunal was also required to consider the applicant's claims in light of Ministerial Direction No. 84, the 'Refugee Law Guidelines', 'Complementary Protection Guidelines', and country information assessments.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision under review, concluding that the applicant did not satisfy the criteria for a protection visa. While the Tribunal accepted the applicant was a citizen of the Solomon Islands and that it was his receiving country, it found that the applicant did not satisfy s 36(2) of the Act. The decision noted that there was no suggestion the applicant satisfied the criteria as a member of the same family unit as a person who held a protection visa.