2420778 (Refugee)

The applicant, who is in immigration detention, sought a protection visa, claiming he feared serious harm upon return to Zambia due to his bisexuality. The dispute concerned whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa, specifically whether he had a well-founded fear of persecution or faced a real risk of significant harm. The decision was made by Senior Member Nicole Burns of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The Tribunal was required to determine if the applicant had established a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of membership of a particular social group, namely bisexual individuals in Zambia, or if he faced a real risk of significant harm as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of removal to Zambia. This involved assessing the credibility of his claims regarding potential harm from police, community, and family, and considering the legal framework for protection visas, including the definitions of "refugee," "well-founded fear of persecution," and "significant harm" under the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth).

The Tribunal found that the applicant's claims lacked credibility, particularly in light of his initial statement that he did not face harm in Zambia and had come to Australia for studies. While acknowledging that same-sex activity is illegal in Zambia and that the applicant claimed to have developed relationships with men in Australia, the Tribunal did not accept that he had a well-founded fear of persecution. The Tribunal noted that the applicant was in a heterosexual relationship with a child in Australia and that there was significant delay in his application for protection. Furthermore, the Tribunal considered that the applicant had not demonstrated that effective protection measures would not be available or that he could not take reasonable steps to avoid a real chance of persecution.

Ultimately, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa, concluding that he did not satisfy any of the criteria under section 36(2) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth).