Date: 20030325
Docket: IMM-2110-02
Neutral citation: 2003 FCT 338
Ottawa, Ontario, this 25th day of March, 2003
Present: THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE KELEN
Between:
MARRIET NISHANTHINI JEYAKUMAR and
NICHOLUS MITHUS JEYAKUMAR and
KATHARINE MITHI JEYAKUMAR by their Litigation Guardian
MARRIET NISHANTHINI JEYAKUMAR
Applicants
- and -
THE MINISTER OF
CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER AND ORDER
[1] This is an application for judicial review of a decision of the Convention Refugee Determination Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board (the "Refugee Division"), dated April 15, 2002, wherein the applicants were declared not to be Convention refugees.
[2] The principal applicant, Marriet Nishanthini Jeyakumar, a citizen of Sri Lanka, alleges a well-founded fear of persecution based on grounds of race, imputed political opinion and membership in a particular social group. The remaining applicants are the two children of the principal applicant and the success of their claims is dependent upon the success of their mother's claim.
[3] The principal applicant worked for a human rights organization in Colombo and she allowed four Tamil women to stay overnight at her home. The next day, while the principal applicant was at church, the police came looking for these women claiming that they were linked with the LTTE. They demanded the whereabouts of the principal applicant and asserted that they would return for her. When the principal applicant received news of the police visit, she took her children and went to a refugee camp in Madhu. From there she fled to England where her husband was living on a student visa. She stayed in England for two months, but after experiencing martial trouble, decided to come to Canada. The applicants travelled to Canada via the United States, where they spent four days. The applicants did not claim refugee status in either England or the United States.
[4] The Refugee Division found that the principal applicant did not provide credible or trustworthy evidence to establish a well-founded fear of persecution in Sri Lanka. The Refugee Division cited several reasons for finding that the principal applicant was not credible including:
· she lied to Canadian immigration officials about her sojourn in England;
· the panel did not believe her claim that she did not know where she stayed while in the United States;
· she failed to claim refugee status in United Kingdom when she was aware that she could do so;
· she did not provide a satisfactory explanation why she just obtained a passport prior to the incident that caused her flee Sri Lanka; and
· the letters of support presented by the principal applicant were vague and lacking in specifics about her particular claim.
[9] The principal applicant argues that the Refugee Division erred in finding her not credible. As this Court has stated many times, the standard of review on findings of credibility by the Refugee Division is patent unreasonableness, see Aguebor v. Minister of Employment and Immigration (1993), 160 N.R. 315 (F.C.A.).
[10] The applicants have not demonstrated that the credibility finding was based on a finding of fact that was perverse, capricious or without regard to the evidence. The applicants have reiterated their case before the Court and requested that the Court intervene to re-weigh the evidence before the Refugee Division. The Court is satisfied that the Board did provide valid reasons for finding that the applicant lacked credibility. Accordingly, the Court cannot set aside credibility findings of the Refugee Division in this case.
[11] The applicants also made submissions regarding the objective basis for their claim. As the applicants do not have a subjective basis to support their claim, there is no need to address these submissions.
[12] There were no serious questions of general importance submitted by the parties for certification.
ORDER
THIS COURT ORDERS THAT:
This application for judicial review is dismissed, and no question is certified for appeal.
"Michael A. Kelen"
J.F.C.C.
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Names of Counsel and Solicitors of Record
DOCKET: IMM-2110-02
STYLE OF CAUSE: MARRIET NISHANTHINI JEYAKUMAR ET AL
Applicants
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND
IMMIGRATION
Respondent
PLACE OF HEARING: TORONTO, ONTARIO
DATE OF HEARING: THURSDAY MARCH 13,2003
REASONS FOR ORDER
AND ORDER BY: THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE KELEN
DATED: TUESDAY, MARCH 25,2003
APPEARANCES BY: Ms. Barbara Jackman
For the Applicant
Mr. Jamie Todd
For the Respondent
SOLICITORS OF RECORD: Ms. Barbara Jackman
Barrister and Solicitor
596 St. Clair Ave. West,Unit 3
Toronto, Ont. M6C 1A6
For the Applicant
Morris Rosenberg
Deputy Attorney General of Canada
For the Respondent
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