Each year, UNE considers a large number of appeals and requests for reversal from asylum seekers who claim that they are at risk of persecution because of their religion or religious activity. The cases encompass a broad range of countries and religions. The majority of cases concern people who claim to be Christian converts from Iran or Afghanistan.
The topic of this memo is the right to refugee status pursuant to the Immigration Act Section 28 first paragraph (a) on grounds of religion. In order to be recognised as a refugee, a person must have a ‘well-founded fear of persecution’ because of his/her ‘religion’ and be unable to obtain protection in their country of origin. A person who is recognised as a refugee pursuant to Section 28 first paragraph (a), is entitled to asylum pursuant to Section 28 second paragraph.
This memo sets out the general basis and main features of UNE's practice. It does not provide a detailed account of all the factors or assessments that form part of that practice. Nor does it provide a detailed account of the situation of each indvidual group in each country.
The first edition of thos memo was based on a review of 400 decisions. For the present update, 94 decisions issued between January 2023 and December 2025 have been reviewed. The majority of these cases concern Christian converts from Iran or Afghanistan. The memo therefore focuses particularly on such cases.
The memo has been updated after the Supreme Court ruling on the 3rd of June 2021 (HR-2021-1209-A), the ruling on the 5th of May 2022 (HR-2022-925-A) and the ruling on the 19th December 2024 (HR-2024-2346-A). The guidelines given by the Supreme Court will be followed by UNE. The judgments are therefore discussed in this memo.
The memo does not address the right to refugee status pursuant to the Immigration Act Section 28 first paragraph (b) or residence on humanitarian grounds pursuant to Section 38.