Citation: 2019 RLLR 121
Tribunal: Refugee Protection Division
Date of Decision: August 19, 2019
Panel: W. Short
Counsel for the Claimant(s): Pablo Andres Irribarra Valdes
Country: Cameroon
RPD Number: TB7-23504
ATIP Number: A-2021-00256
ATIP Pages: 000023-000025
DECISION
[1] MEMBER: This is my decision with respect to the claim of [XXX]. This is a 22-year-old man who is a citizen of Cameroon and he claims to be a Convention Refugee or a person in need of protection pursuant to the provisions of Section 96 and Subsection 97.1 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
[2] The claimant alleges that should he return to Cameroon he would be in danger of his life and safety because of his sexual orientation as a gay man.
[3] The claimant alleges that he became aware of his sexuality at around the age of 15 when he discovered while participating in sports he was much more attracted to his fellow male players and he was not attracted at all to females.
[4] His problems became manifest when he was caught having an affair according to his evidence with a student teacher. He has also given oral evidence today as to how he was attacked by a mob and was rescued by the police but he was also arrested and he was put in hospital and the police checked on him every day.
[5] He has testified to the fact that he has a couple of friends, male friends in Canada and I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the individual is a gay man.
[6] I noticed that he arrived in Canada on [XXX], 2017 but did not claim refugee protection until two months later. When he was in Canada at first he was on a student visa.
[7] Now, the student visa had been illegally obtained but I still take the approach that since it would have been difficult for the authorities to have deported the claimant during those two months he should be forgiven for the delay. He also said that he did not realize that he would apply immediately for refugee protection but was advised so by the gay help group, 519.
[8] Therefore, I have determined that should the claimant return to Cameroon he would face more than a mere possibility of persecution on account of his sexuality which is a connection to one of the five grounds which define a Convention Refugee.
[9] I am looking at Item 6.1 of the National Documentation Package. This is response to information request by this board and it is CMR106270.FE, it is dated May 8, 2019 and it says according to sources homosexual acts are illegal in Cameroon and the Penal Code provides for up to five years in prison for sexual activity with a same-sex partner.
[10] Sources report that the section of the law penalizing homosexuality was retained during a reform of the Penal Code adopted in 2016. The Penal Code provides that whoever has sexual relations with a person of the same sex shall be punished by imprisonment from six months to five years and to a fine. Sources report that sexual minorities are subject to arrest and prosecution.
[11] Cameroon prosecutes people with consensual same-sex conduct more aggressively than almost any other country in the word this report says; quoting an NGO. According to sources arrests and prosecution are based on suspicion rather than evidence and the Cameroonian authorities are in the main (inaudible) sexual gender and minorities instead of performing their function of protecting their citizens.
[12] Not only that but the claimant’s testimony indicates that the attitude of the populous at large is very, very homophobic and it would be dangerous for him to be exposed to these individuals and he could expect no help whatsoever or protection from the police.
[13] For these reasons I believe that the claimant has made out his case.
[14] I find that he therefore is a Convention Refugee and his claim for refugee protection is accepted.
[15] This oral decision will be transcribed into writing and it may be edited for grammar and syntax and we are now off the record.
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