Date: 19990817
Docket: IMM-4455-98
BETWEEN:
MD. SHAHJAHAN BHUIYAN
SUMI MALEK FAWNAZ
Applicants
- and -
THE MINISTER
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER
TREMBLAY-LAMER J.:
[1] This is an application for judicial review of a decision of the Convention Refugee Determination Division ("CRDD") dated 12 August 1998, wherein Mr. Bhuiyan (the "male applicant") and his wife Sumi Malek Fawnaz (the "female applicant") were determined not to be refugees according to the Convention.
[2] The applicants are citizens of Bangladesh, who claim to have a well founded fear of persecution in their country. The male applicant"s fear is based on his political opinion, demonstrated by his political activities for the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). The female applicant bases her claim on her perceived political opinion, due to her husband"s activities and on her membership in a particular social group, namely young women who refuse marriage proposals in Bangladesh.
[3] In his PIF, the male applicant recounts extensive political activity dating back to 1984 when he joined the student wing of the BNP. He details at least eight separate incidents where he was beaten or sustained injuries as a result of his political activities, one of which resulted in "severe" injuries, requiring 7 days in hospital.
[4] Apparently, the head of one of the opposing political parties, Mr. Hogue, proposed marriage to the female applicant and her family refused. She married the male applicant instead. As a result, the applicants claim, they became the target of repeated harassment and physical attacks at the hands of Mr. Hogue and the other Awami League "AL" hooligans.
[5] The CRDD found that the applicants were not credible because of several omissions and contradictions in their testimony. The CRDD acknowledged that there were four inaccuracies in the simultaneous translation but concluded that these errors were merely minor discrepancies that did not affect the Board"s global appreciation of the applicants" testimony.
[6] The applicants mainly submit that the translator committed a significant translating error on a key portion of the applicants" testimony. The questionable interpretation is used at several key points in the decision. Therefore, the applicants submit that this error renders the decision unreasonable.
[7] In my opinion, the applicants were not denied procedural fairness due to the poor quality of the translation. First, I note that the issue of the poor quality of interpretation was not raised by the applicants at the hearing, despite the fact that the male applicant understands English reasonably well. Nevertheless following a letter from the applicants" counsel, Mr. Block, the applicants had Mr. Addul Jaffar review the tapes and swear an affidavit attesting to the errors. The Board considered the errors and found them to be minor discrepancies not affecting the outcome of its decision. It is only upon application for judicial review that the applicants submitted a second affidavit attesting to another error in translation. Thus the information contained therein was not before the Board at the time of the decision. I find it difficult, in such a case, to find a breach of procedural fairness. In any event, given the large number of correlated contradictions and omissions in the applicants" testimony, the Board"s decision is reasonable and provides no grounds for intervention from this Court.
[8] In the end, the Board concluded that the applicants" problems stemmed from the personal vendetta of the female applicant"s rejected suitor, rather than from the male applicant"s political activities. It concluded that there was no nexus between the applicants fear of a rejected suitor and the definition of convention refugee.
[9] As I stated in Marincas v. M.E.I.,1 "the fear of personal vengeance is not a fear of persecution."
[10] For these reasons, the application for judicial review is dismissed.
Danièle Tremblay-Lamer
JUDGE
MONTRÉAL, QUÉBEC
August 17, 1999.
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
TRIAL DIVISION
Date: 19990817
Docket: IMM-4455-98
BETWEEN:
MD. SHAHJAHAN BHUIYAN
SUMI MALEK FAWNAZ
Applicants
AND
THE MINISTER
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
TRIAL DIVISION
NAMES OF COUNSEL AND SOLICITORS ON THE RECORD
COURT FILE NO.: IMM-4455-98
STYLE OF CAUSE: MD. SHAHJAHAN BHUIYAN
SUMI MALEK FAWNAZ
Applicants
AND
THE MINISTER
Respondent
PLACE OF HEARING: Montreal, Quebec
DATE OF HEARING: August 16, 1999
REASONS FOR ORDER OF TREMBLAY-LAMER J.
DATED: August 17, 1999
APPEARANCES:
Ms. Barbara Leiter for the Applicants
Ms. Thi My Dung Tran for the Respondent
SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
Ms. Barbara Leiter
Montreal, Quebec for the Applicants
Morris Rosenberg
Deputy Attorney General of Canada
Montreal, Quebec for the Respondent
__________________
1 (23 August 1994), IMM-5737-93 (F.C.T.D.).
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