Category: Libya

Citation: 2019 RLLR 87
Tribunal: Refugee Protection Division
Date of Decision: January 10, 2019
Panel: K. Pike
Counsel for the claimant(s): Claire Houkaye m
Country: Libya
RPD Number: TB7-18122
Associated RPD Numbers: TB7-18133, TB7-18157, TB7-18158, TB7-18159
ATIP Number: A-2020-01459
ATIP Pages: 000037-000039

DECISION

[1]       MEMBER: This is the decision in the claims for refugee protection made by [XXX] and [XXX]. The principal File Number is TB7-18122.

[2]       Having carefully considered the evidence in this case, I am in a position to render a decision orally now and that decision is to accept the claim. The reason I come to that conclusion is as follows.

[3]       First of all, your identities are well established. I have copies of everyone’s passports and numerous other identity documents.

[4]       You have sought protection the following reason: When you returned to Libya in 2015 after having finished a period of studies in Canada, you allege that your home in Tripoli was damaged during armed conflict in the city at that time. You were not living there at that time, you were living in your parents’ home another city, Zaltan.

[5]       You went to go check on the damage. You made a report to the persons of responsible for the local security in the area in hopes of one day getting for some compensation for the damage. People came to inspect the home and the damage, and you say that an unintended consequence of this was that they found materials that they perceived to be of pro-Gaddafi in your home. Despite your explanation that these were related to your academic work, you were detained and questioned, treated badly in detention.

[6]       And you remain afraid of returning to Libya as you believe the security forces and militia groups perceive you as aligned with the former regime. You say this belief is supported by the continuing action of the local militia in your neighborhood in Tripoli, and that they chose to take your home you said for their own purposes in 2017.

[7]       You were able to secure visas to return to Canada to study and subsequently claim protection here. So, the reason I accept the claim is because I do find there is sufficient credible evidence to support your allegation.

[8]       Your testimony today was consistent and detailed. You provided documents in support of your claim, which included photos of your home and the damage to your home, letters from family members and neighbors who support your claims, and a record from the local militia group obtained by a family member, and so for all of those reasons I do believe that your home was damaged and you are now a target of the local militia group in Tripoli and that should you return to Libya and try to live in your home in Tripoli, you would face more than a mere possibility of persecution as a result of your perceived political opinion as being seen as pro-Gaddafi and by default against the militia.

[9]       Having found that you face persecution in your home, I had do consider whether there was an internal flight alternative for you. We considered Zaltan as this where your family is from and where you went to after you were released in Tripoli. You claim that you would be at risk there because the militia groups are widespread. You did remain there for a number of months before leaving Libya. There is no information that that militia group has control or reach in that city, and your family continues to live there. So, it is somewhat questionable whether the evidence supports that you would face risk there.

[10]     However, in addition to your fear of return, you also described the situation in general in the city as very poor. The security situation has resulted in your family member and others being unable to leave their homes and living in a situation of fear based on the lack of security in the area.

[11]     You are a family with four young children, and so even if the specific militia group that you fear in Tripoli would not necessarily harm you there, I find it objectively unreasonable for you to relocate to a city where there is such a poor security situation such that people were unable to leave their homes.

[12]     Finally, I note that there is no State protection currently in Libya as there is no functioning central State.

[13]     And so, for all of those reasons, I do find that you are Convention refugees and the claims are accepted. Thank you.

[14]     COUNSEL: Thank you, Board member.

———- REASONS CONCLUDED ———-

Citation: 2019 RLLR 79
Tribunal: Refugee Protection Division
Date of Decision: April 9, 2019
Panel: Jeffrey Brian Gullickson
Country: Libya
RPD Number: MB8-19759
RPD Associated Number(s): MB8-19775
ATIP Number: A-2020-01459
ATIP Pages: 00001-00005

[1]       I have considered your testimony and the other evidence in this case, and I am ready to render my decision orally. These are the reasons for the decision in the claims of Mr. [XXX] and Ms. [XXX], who are citizens of Libya and are claiming refugee protection pursuant to section 96 and 97(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. In rendering my reasons, I have considered and applied the person’s… the Chairperson’s guidelines on women refugee claimants fearing gender-related persecutions.

ALLEGATIONS

[2]       The claimants are 22 and 19. They are from Tripoli. They are associated with Misrata through their brother. They had come to Canada approximately in 2014 as students, last… leaving the country, for Mr. [XXX], it was in late [XXX] 2015, for Ms. [XXX], it was [XXX] 2016. The two claimants are brother and sister. They do have two siblings who are still leaving in Libya, but most of their family members, or at least their parents, are living in Qatar where the two claimants had lived for several years before the revolution in Libya in 2011. The claimants had visited Libya recently for Mr. [XXX] in [XXX] 2015, for the female claimant, his sister, in [XXX] 2016. They had stayed for approximately two weeks at that time and for period previous to that, when they were visiting but living in Qatar. The brother, [XXX] (phonetic), had fought in armed conflict in one of the militias starting in 2011 and through to 2013. He was fighting Gaddafi forces, pro-Gaddafi forces, during that period, and he had been targeted by rival militias. And, he had warned the claimants not to return to Libya. The claimants fear that they would be targeted by rival militias, or other groups, and would be the targets of kidnapping, extortion, or related harm, or some harm just related to being a perceived opponent for political reasons or for being associated with Misrata militia. So, the claimants made their refugee claims eventually in Canada.

DETERMINATION

[3]       I find that you are “Convention refugees” as you fear persecution by reason of a member of a particular social group or for imputed political opinion, and this is in association with your brother [XXX] activity in the Misrata militia or a similar militia associated with Misrata, and that you would be targeted by rival militias as a possible political opponent.

ANALYSIS

IDENTITY

[4]       I find that your identity as nationals of Libya is established by your passports you’ve deposited as evidence.

CREDIBILITY

[5]       I find that you were generally credible in your testimony. There were some credibility concerns but they are not determinative. There is probative evidence in support of your claim. The evidence that you did submit were primarily the DVD, which was fairly detailed, it’s almost … I think it’s an hour and a half. It’s approximately an hour and a half, that was a documentary on the claimants’ brother [XXX], who fought in the armed conflict in Libya after the revolution or in the period of 2011 and shortly after that, showing that he had taken up arms and fought in that conflict. He is clearly identified in the credits of the film as well and corresponds to the claimants’ Basis of Claim form where they list their family members. Another document is P-2, which is a letter from the claimants’ father, which is basically explaining his limited and temporary status in Qatar as an employee of a [XXX]. It’s unclear whether he would be able to renew his status in Qatar, but one of the allegations by the claimants is that if they were not allowed to stay in Canada, and there was a risk of being forced to Libya, they would have no refuge in Qatar since their own father has only temporary status there. And, the claimants don’t appear to have any permanent status in Qatar.

[6]       The Documentation Package for Libya, dated March 2019, describes the conflict in Libya. That the Gaddafi regime was violently overthrown in 2011 by armed insurgents and NATO, and that’s tab 1.12, sections 5.1.1 to section 5.1.3. And, that’s in the Documentation Package. There is conflict between the ruling groups in Libya. One is in Tobruk and Albida now, in the East, and the other is the… is in the West in Tripoli, which is acting under the UN Accord which had named the government of National Accord as the governing body or the governing structure, and that was in 2015. But that governing structure was not endorsed fully by the parties, and that there are two competing factions in the East and in the West now. And, that is described in tab 1.2, sections the same, 5.1.1 to 5.1.3.

[7]       The NDP mentions that family association is not documented as a factor to probably cause danger for other family members who are not primary target … the primary target of aggression by militias or the government in Libya. But there is conflicting information about that, because there is much information in the Documentation Package that describes security zones and armed militias organizing along family clan and tribal lines. So, that would mean by association people could be targeted for violence, and that information is found in tab 9.4 of the Documentation Package, section 4.11. The National Documentation Package indicates that the rest of the country, and this is outside Tripoli, Tobruk, and… what did I say? Albida, and there are other areas that are being disputed by various factions, armed militias, etc. They would be pro-Gaddafi, anti-Gaddafi, Islamic extremist groups, etc. And, there is not a government body that could offer adequate State protection for those areas in Libya. The Documentation Package indicates that Tripoli’s militia groups Libya Dawn, or it’s an umbrella. The group Libya Dawn was dominated by the Misrata based on (inaudible) in 2014. And, that militia included the Tripoli’s… Tripoli Revolutionaries Brigade, or the TRB, and that’s found in tab 1.12 section 7.6. The NDP mentions in several places the Misrata militia as the local armed forces which include… or included … The Misrata had been fighting other forces, and this would be in the Magarha and Sabha region, in 2016, and this is… so, there are some rival militias fighting against Misrata, that’s 4.15 pages 20 to 21.

[8]       There are other mentions of Misrata fighting other rival militias. In any case, the National Documentation Package… because the two government that are functioning, and because there’s much maneuvering by the various militias to control territory, being associated with one or the other militias would put someone at risk, necessarily being identified as an opponent to the other militias. So, the claimants, I understand in their situation, their relationship with their brother would be by association, associated with Misrata militia and they would face trouble and would be targeted by the militias which are opposing Misrata.

STATE PROTECTION

[9]       I find there is clear and convincing evidence that the State, as we understand it, Libya is unable or unwilling to provide adequate protection for the claimants in their particular circumstances, partly because part of the State may actually be against the Misrata militias, for example the government in the East. And the other reason is that, even the government in the West, the National Documentation Package shows (inaudible) I already stated. And, also mentions that the government in the West that’s been sanctioned by the UN to… sanctioned by the UN meaning that they have the approval of the UN, they have delegated their security duties to various militias in the area that are allied with the government in the East… or in the West rather, in Tripoli. So, consequently, the State has not shown their capacity or willingness to protect the claimants, and they would not… the State would not be able to protect the claimants if they were to go in other areas in Libya.

INTERNAL FLIGHT ALTERNATIVE

[10]     On the evidence, I find that there is a serious possibility of persecution throughout Libya for the claimants for the same reasons I’ve already stated above, general lack of security, lack of State control of certain territory, and the inability to protect the claimants.

CONCLUSION

[11]     I conclude that you are “Convention refugees” and I accept your claim. Thank you.