Docket: IMM-716-17
Citation:
2017 FC 935
Toronto, Ontario, October 19, 2017
PRESENT: The
Honourable Mr. Justice Campbell
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BETWEEN:
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SAMUEL JOZSEF
OLAH
SAMUEL JOZSEFNE
OLAH
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Applicants
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and
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THE MINISTER OF
CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
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Respondent
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JUDGMENT AND REASONS
[1]
The present Application relates to a Pre-Removal
Risk Assessment (PRRA) application in which the Applicants, who are Hungarian
nationals of Romani ethnicity, claim protection pursuant to s.96 of the Immigration
and Refugee Protection Act, SC 2001, c 27, on the basis that if they are
required to return to Hungary they will face more than a mere possibility of
persecution because of their ethnicity. In a decision dated December 6, 2016,
the PRRA Officer (Officer) rejected the Applicants’ claim.
[2]
In support of their application, the Applicants
presented evidence as identified by the Officer:
The principal applicant has presented a 2.5
page written narrative in response to question 50 and 51 of his Application for
a PRRA. He states that he has faced intimidation, harassment and threats from
skinheads and Guardists who openly promote anti-Roma hatred and are supported
by Jobbik political party that wants to clear Hungary of Roma.
He gives details of an incident on the night
of 30 December 2015 wherein his home was vandalized by unknown individuals who
were openly yelling death threats towards him as he remained inside. He states
that this incident was not reported to police as he did not see a point in
doing so since they do not help Roma. He adds that he had problems finding
stable work which prevented him from ever earning a decent livelihood. He
further adds that when seeking healthcare he was treated rudely and with
indifference. [Decision, p. 4]
[3]
The Officer’s treatment of the Applicant’s
evidence is as follows:
While I do not wholly discount the
statements made in this narrative, I note they
exhibit a broad-based level of detail and have not been substantiated by any
documentary evidence. Consequently, I give these statements little weight. I
find the principal applicant has produced insufficient objective evidence to
establish, on balance, any personal incidents of harassment of threats made
towards him nor of discrimination when seeking healthcare or employment on
account of his Roma ethnicity. [Decision, p. 4]
By virtue of the use of the statement “[w]hile I do not wholly discount the statements made in this
narrative”, I find that the Officer’s analysis of the evidence
constitutes an unclear and unsupported negative credibility finding. In my
opinion, because the erroneous finding is crucial to the Applicant’s claim, I
find that it renders the decision unreasonable.
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