CANADIAN IRB RELIGION CASE FACTS Claimant: 27 year old female - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

CANADIAN IRB RELIGION CASE

FACTS  Claimant: 27 year old female Ukrainian national, designated XXXX XXXXX  Country of Origin: Ukraine  Country of hearing: Canada  Court: Immigration and Refugee Board (Refugee Protection Division)  No prior decisions – first instance

REASONS FOR FLEEING XXXX XXXXX fled to Canada to escape religious persecution in Ukraine including:  insults, humiliation, physical attacks ending in injuries, employment discrimination, threatening phone calls and notes, targeted graffiti  She fears that if she returns she will be beaten or even killed by Ukrainian anti-Semites, including nationalists, and by her former boyfriend.

ISSUES  Does XXXX XXXXX have a well-founded fear of persecution in Ukraine by anti-Semites  Is this persecution a result of XXXX XXXXX’s Jewish religion?  Are the Ukrainian authorities unwilling to protect her?

THE LAW  Canadian Domestic Law: The hearing is held pursuant to s 170(b) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act S.C. 2001, c 27 – which simply states that when there is an application for refugee protection there must be a hearing.

ANALYSIS  Convention on Refugees: [Article 1: Owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country]

WELL-FOUNDED FEAR  Subjective test  Does XXXXX fear future persecution on the basis of her Jewish identity, based on her personal experiences?  Objective Test  Does evidence disclose risk of persecution that would cause a reasonable person to reject state’s protection?  What happened to other members of same religious group?  What are the State’s laws/how are they applied? Also:  Credibility

DEFINING RELIGION: IS IT DESIRABLE OR NECESSARY?

THE INTERSECTION BETWEEN IDENTITY, PERCEPTION, RELIGION AND PERSECUTION?

CONCLUSION  We agree with the determination, but we feel like the written determination lacks reasoning and analysis which leaves us to question his method.