Date: 20081114
Docket: IMM-4563-07
Citation: 2008 FC 1276
Vancouver, British Columbia, November
14, 2008
PRESENT: THE CHIEF JUSTICE
BETWEEN:
ILMI BRAHAJ
a.k.a. ELMI BRAHAJ
Applicant
and
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP
AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT AND JUDGMENT
[1]
The
applicant seeks Convention refugee status as the target of an Albanian family blood
feud dating back to 1995. In my view, it was open to the Refugee Protection
Division to determine that the applicant would not be subject to persecution or
cruel and unusual treatment as a consequence of the family feud. On my review
of the record, this negative determination cannot be characterized as an
unreasonable outcome.
[2]
The
tribunal decision was based on two principal findings.
[3]
First,
the applicant’s mother, father and brother, now 19, have continued to live in
Tirana with no apparent threat to them as a result of the asserted blood feud.
In the absence of any evidence of incidents related to the blood feud, the
member did not accept that the applicant was at risk. Contrary to the
applicant’s submissions, the member’s reasons disclose that this finding was
made with an appreciation that blood feuds may be generational and can extend
for decades.
[4]
Second,
the member concluded that the applicant, who moved to Greece in May 1996,
did not fear returning to Albania for six months between October 1996 and May
1997, for two-month stays in each of 2000 and 2002 and, finally, in 2005 with
his wife before he left for Canada to seek refuge. During that decade, the
applicant chose not to claim refugee status in Greece or
elsewhere.
[5]
Concerning
state protection, the member did not attach much weight to the statement made
by the police to the applicant in approximately 1996 that no action would be
taken until “he was dead”. More significantly, the member noted that the
applicant made no effort to speak to government authorities or organizations
which support reconciliation among blood feuding families during his several
return visits to Albania. She also understood the applicant’s testimony
that there had been efforts to mediate the feud. However, she concluded,
properly in my view that few, if any, details were provided concerning any
reconciliation process.
[6]
There
was country evidence documentation to support the member’s conclusion that the
situation in Albania concerning
family blood feuds had improved, although remained far from perfect.
[7]
In
my view, the record discloses no reviewable error. Accordingly, this
application for judicial review will be dismissed. The Court agrees with the
parties that this proceeding raises no serious question for certification.
JUDGMENT
THIS
COURT ORDERS AND ADJUDGES that this
application for judicial review is dismissed.
“Allan
Lutfy”
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