CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION |
Status in Canada |
Convention refugees |
Li v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration)
IMM-6303-99
2001 FCT 1242, Pelletier J.
14/11/01
15 pp.
Application for judicial review of CRDD decision applicant not Convention refugee--Applicant from China 15 years old at time of decision--Claiming well-founded fear of persecution based on religion and imputed political opinion-- Smuggled into Canada by "snakeheads"--Caught at border attempting to enter U.S. illegally--Applicant also claiming refugee sur place status--CRDD determined applicant not credible witness; did not believe applicant's brother and mother arrested--As long as inferences drawn by tribunal not so unreasonable as to warrant intervention, its findings not open to judicial review--Application dismissed-- CRDD's credibility assessment not revealing failure to follow or appreciate Child Refugee Guidelines--No reason to interfere with CRDD's assessment of applicant's credibility-- Question certified as to refugee sur place claim: whether necessary for applicant to prove media reports came to attention of authorities in country in respect of which applicant alleging well-founded fear of persecution, and that information contained in media reports sufficient to allow authorities to identify applicant--Application for judicial review of ten applicants heard together because of certain common issues, one of which whether applicants had become refugees sur place--Essential problem for applicants fact no evidence before CRDD, documentary or otherwise, substantiating sur place allegation--Law clear that burden of proof lying with applicant; must satisfy CRDD claim meeting both subjective and objective tests required in order to have well-founded fear of persecution--In absence of documentary evidence applicants would be persecuted based on political opinion imputed from refugee claim, reasonable for CRDD to draw no conclusion based upon evidence of publicity--Given absence of evidence establishing objective grounds for applicants' fear of persecution based on imputed political opinion, and bearing in mind that applicants had burden of proof in this regard, CRDD did not commit reviewable error in its evaluation of applicants' sur place claim.