Date: 20030326
Docket: IMM-3006-02
Neutral citation: 2003 FCT 355
Toronto, Ontario, Wednesday, the 26th day of March 2003
PRESENT: The Honourable Madam Justice Heneghan
BETWEEN:
MOHAMED IMRAN BADURDEEN (MUHUSEEN)
Applicant
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER AND ORDER
Mr. Mohamed Imran Badurdeen (Muhuseen) (the "Applicant") seeks judicial review of the decision of the Immigration and Refugee Board, Convention Refugee Determination Division (the "Board") dated June 11, 2002. In its decision the Board found the Applicant not to be a Convention refugee.
[2] The Applicant, a citizen of Sri Lanka, is a Muslim Tamil. He arrived in Canada on October 3, 2000 after a four month stay in the United States of America. He claimed Convention refugee status in Canada on the day after his arrival in this country.
[3] The basis of the Applicant's claim was a well-founded fear of persecution in Sri Lanka by the Sri Lankan Army (the "SLA") and other Sri Lankan authorities. He claimed that he would be persecuted for refusing to identify suppliers and members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (the "LTTE") that he recognized since he once lived in LTTE-controlled territory, that is Mannar.
[4] The Board concluded that the Applicant failed to present credible evidence that he would face more than a mere possibility of persecution in Colombo, Sri Lanka, if he was to return. The Board accepted his identity and that he was a Tamil and a Muslim, however, the Board concluded that the Applicant's evidence only showed that he faced the "general indescriminate [sic] consequences of civil war" and that he was not at greater risk than the residents of Colombo.
[5] The Board made a sweeping statement about the Applicant's credibility when it said the following:
To lie about experience and to fabricate abuse at the hands of the Sri Lankan authorities, cause the panel to draw a negative inference on the well founded fear of the claimant.
[6] In my opinion, the Board here failed to adequately analyse the evidence submitted by the Applicant. It did not provide reasons for its rejection of his evidence. It did not meet the standard described by the Federal Court of Appeal in Hilo v. Canada (Minister of Employment and Immigration) (1992), 15 Imm. L.R. (2d) 199 (F.C.A.) at paragraph 6 as follows:
...In my view, the board was under a duty to give its reasons for casting doubt upon the appellant's credibility in clear and unmistakable terms. The board's credibility assessment, quoted supra, is defective because it is couched in vague and general terms. The board concluded that the appellant's evidence lacked detail and was sometimes inconsistent. Surely particulars of the lack of detail and of the inconsistencies should have been provided. Likewise particulars of his inability to answer questions should have been made available.
[7] The Board has failed to meet this standard. The application for judicial review is allowed and the matter is remitted to a differently constituted panel of the Refugee Protection Division for redetermination. Counsel advise that there is no question for certification.
ORDER
The application for judicial review is allowed and the matter remitted to a differently constituted panel of the Refugee Protection Division for redetermination. There is no question for certification.
"E. Heneghan"
J.F.C.C.
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
TRIAL DIVISION
Names of Counsel and Solicitors of Record
DOCKET: IMM-3006-02
STYLE OF CAUSE: MOHAMED IMRAN BADURDEEN (MUHUSEEN)
Applicant
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND
IMMIGRATION
Respondent
DATE OF HEARING: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2003
PLACE OF HEARING: TORONTO, ONTARIO
REASONS FOR ORDER AND
ORDER BY: Heneghan J.
DATED: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2003
APPEARANCES BY: Mr. David P.Yerzy
For the Applicant
Mr. Alexis Singer For the Respondent
SOLICITORS OF RECORD: David P. Yerzy
Barrister & Solicitor
14 Prince Arthur Avenue
Suite 108
Toronto, Ontario
M5R 1A9
For the Applicant
Morris Rosenberg
Deputy Attorney General of Canada
For the Respondent
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Date: 20030326
Docket: IMM-3006-02
BETWEEN:
MOHAMED IMRAN BADURDEEN
(MUHUSEEN)
Applicant
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP
AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER
AND ORDER
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