CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION |
Status in Canada |
Convention Refugees |
El-Bekai v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration)
IMM-5452-99
Lemieux J.
17/8/00
13 pp.
Application for judicial review of IRB decision rejecting refugee claim--Applicant, stateless Palestinian born in refugee camp in Lebanon, elementary teacher teaching Palestine refugees in Lebanon--Claimed fear of persecution by Syrian Intelligence Service because of political opinion arising out of activities in Lebanese Teachers' Union 1996 election; membership in particular social group: family--Application allowed--IRB misinterpreted meaning of political opinion--Erred in law when found applicant not politically active in Lebanon--IRB adopted narrow view of what Teachers' Association about in context of events in Lebanon in 1996; discounted fact teachers split into pro-Syrian and pro-Arafat camps; ignored that Syrians might be interested in such matters because of teachers' influence on pupils--Applicant clearly expressing political opinion when canvassed for pro-Arafat candidate--With respect to claim based on membership in particular social group (family), IRB committed second error when failed to consider why Syrian authorities in Lebanon might be agents of persecution of some members of applicant's family--Brother had been Secretary General of Fatah Organization and had made successful refugee claim in Canada in 1989--Applicant testified whole family suffering from that--IRB findings of implausibility and lack of credibility must rest on proper evidentiary foundation when evidence considered as whole and such findings not grounded on surmise and speculation --Obiter: deficiencies in this respect in IRB decision herein.