Citation: 2020 RLLR 115
Tribunal: Refugee Protection Division
Date of Decision: October 1, 2020
Panel: Heidi Worsfold
Counsel for the Claimant(s): N/A
Country: Egypt
RPD Number: VB8-07448
Associated RPD Number(s): VB8-07460
ATIP Number: A-2021-00945
ATIP Pages: 000203-000207
DECISION
[1] MEMBER: This is the decision of the Refugee Protection Division in the claim of [XXX] and [XXX] as citizens of Egypt pursuant to Sections 96 and 97.(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
[2] The specifics of your case are stated in your Basis of Claim form. In short you state that you left Egypt because you fear persecution because of you religion, that being a Coptic Christian. You feel there is nowhere you could live safely in Egypt. In doing this decision, I reviewed the Chairperson’s Guidelines for victims of gender-based persecution given that there is a gender component of religious persecution that you fear in Egypt. You provided a detailed narrative in your Basis of Claim. In short, you come from Christian parents and have been practicing as a Coptic Christian your whole life in Minya and then in Cairo.
[3] Once you left primary school and moved into secondary education that was government run, you felt for the first time the religious discrimination as a religious minority. Through the period of 2007-2009, you witnessed and increase in anti-Christian violence perpetrated by Muslim extremists. This environment existed and would flare up at points so that sometimes you had to stay home from work at the [XXX] in Cairo because it was too dangerous for you to be out alone as a Christian woman.
[4] You were having difficulties in your marriage as your husband was having relationships outside of the marriage so you decided that a period of separation would be best. You had planned to visit your sister in Canada and applied for a travel visa for you and your son. However, while you were at your father’s [XXX] (sic), 2018, you were approached by a man named [XXX] (sic), who knew of your circumstances and said he was interested in marrying you ad converting you to Islam.
[5] On the evening of [XXX] 2018, as you and your son were returning from a weekly church service meeting, you were stopped by this [XXX] and another person while you were parking your car. He tried to drag you out of your car and the other man attacked the windshield with a large stick. You tried to drive away to escape and you hit the other car. In the process of this incident you were assaulted with a sharp object.
[6] You were able to get away and called your father who took pictures of the car for insurance and also went to the police to report the incident. When he arrived at the police station he found that the [XXX] was there with his followers claiming that you had hit them and that you were the criminal. The police offered a solution of reconciliation in order to give some – and your father accepted this in order to give him some time to try to protect you.
[7] When he came back home he decided that you should go to another house belonging to the church that was not known to the [XXX] and his followers. Subsequently you were threatened over the phone with the final offer of agreeing to marry the [XXX] and convert to Islam with your son or you would both be slain in the street. You fear there is nowhere safe for you or your son to live as a single Christian woman anywhere in Egypt.
[8] I find that you are Convention refugees according to Section 96 of the Act for the following reasons.
[9] With respect to the issue of your personal identities as nationals of Egypt, it’s been established by your Egyptian it’s been established by your Egyptian passports and Canadian visas, copies which (sic) were submitted to the Board. You testified in a straightforward and consistent manner today and I find that you were a credible witness. You did not embellish your claim and there were no material inconsistencies or contradictions within your evidence and there – that were not reasonably explained or that undermined your credibility in respect to the central allegations.
[10] You testified about the ongoing discrimination that you and other Christians face everyday living in Egypt and how this discrimination has intensified over the years and become persecutory especially since the revolution in 2011 where more Islamic extremists act with greater impunity.
[11] You stated that as a Christian woman you were a much easier target and further, that Islamic fundamentalist like the [XXX] look to target Christian especially since conversions to Islam was seen as a victory or triumph. You also provided significant corroborative documents with respect to your religion and the persecution you suffered from the [XXX]. You’ve provided photos of the damage clone to your car, a medical report outlining the injuries you suffered from that attack, a statement from your ex-mother-in-law regarding the attack you suffered and threats form the [XXX] and he’s well known to be a dangerous and extremist Islamic individual in Minya.
[12] As well, she submitted some information around the suspicious circumstances of her son’s death and you have attacked the death certificate, all at Exhibit 5. Also you have attacked your baptism certificates indicating your Christian faith and this can also be found at Exhibit 5. So based on the totality of evidence before me, I find that you’ve established a nexus to a Convention ground namely religion. Further, based on the totality of the objective evidence, which I’ll highlight in a moment, I find that you have established that you would face a serious possibility of persecution on the basis of religion in Egypt as a Coptic Christian.
[13] I find that the objective evidence provides a basis for your well-founded fear of persecution in Egypt on the basis of your religious beliefs and practice as a Coptic Christian and accordingly I find you’ve established your claim. The NDP, or National Documentation Package, establishes that Egypt is presently an unsafe place to openly express a Christian identity.
[14] According to Freedom house Report in the National Documentation Package, Egypt is a country where religious minorities and atheists face religious persecution and violence with Coptic’s in particular suffering numerous cases of forced displacement, physical assaults, bomb and arson attacks, and blocking of church construction in recent years.
[15] According to the US Department of State in 2019, Coptic Christians suffered sectarian violence. There were incidents of mob violence and vigilantism. World Watch Monitor, a website that reports the story of Christians around the world under pressure for their faith reports that on June 17th, 2016, more than 5,000 people mobbed homes of cops in their settlement near Alexandria and looted ten homes after reports that a Coptic man was turning his home into a church. According to one newspaper source, since the 19702 Islamists and Egypt have used attacks on Christians as a tactic in their struggle against the state, further stating that in each period of violence with the state, Coptic’s serve as a target to Islamists who then home to revoke a disproportionate state repression and rally the large Muslim population to their cause.
[16] It is reported that terrorists groups target churches in order to break whatever national unity may exist between the Muslims and Coptic’s of Egypt. According to material collated in 2018 by the Board’s own research unit, President Al Sese (ph) is keen on improving the situation for Coptic Christians and the country recently saw its appointment of its first female Coptic governor.
[17] However, the Board’s report also notes that numerous churches have been closed due to risk of attack, World Church construction is prevented, churches are picketed by slogan-chanting protestors, and attacked by brick-throwing mobs. Muslim men have kidnapped minor Christian girls with impunity and criminal investigations against extremists have been thwarted by weak measures and implementation.
[18] Ultimately I conclude that your fear of persecution in Egypt on account of your religious identity is objectively well-founded and that you face a serious possibility of persecution. There is a presumption that a state, if it’s in control of its territory, will make serious efforts to protect its citizens. Failure to seek protection from authorities can be fatal to a claim unless it can be established that the protection would not be forthcoming. It is up to claimants to rebut the presumption of state protection with clear and convincing evidence that the state cannot or will not protect them.
[19] While the evidence does not establish that the entire Egyptian population is hostile to Christians and while there are some examples of the state attempting to curb Islamists zealotry, these are few and far between. For example, sources report that the government continues to use customary reconciliation when violent incidents occur in place of criminal investigations and prosecutions. Amnesty International states that regarding the use of “customary reconciliation” impunity has contributed to a significant increase in violent acts against Christians.
[20] According to Human Rights Group, reconciliation sessions put Christians at a disadvantage and result in some cases in Christian families being forced to leave their villages and sell their property.
[21] In your particular circumstances, and individual, the [XXX], singled you out as a target of his interest in marrying you and converting you to Islam and appears to have had some support of the local authorities and been able to act with impunity. In fact, your father was asked to use this customary reconciliation in place of putting a complaint forward.
[22] Therefore I conclude that the Egyptian government has shown little ability to restrain the attacks and intimidation efforts of anti-Christian extremists. Ultimately the presumption of state protection is rebutted because the objective evidence cited above confirms that the state is unwilling or unable to adequately protect you.
[23] For an Internal Flight Alternative to be viable with respect to a Section 96 claim, there must be no serious possibility of the claimants being persecuted in the suggested IFA. Further, conditions in the suggested IFA must be such that it would not be unreasonable in all the circumstances including those particular to the claimants in question, for he claimants to seek refuge there. I’ve considered whether an IFA exists in Egypt for you, however, the situation for Christians is largely uniform throughout the whole of Egypt and as such I find there is no place within the country where you could go where you would not face a serious possibility of persecution.
[24] Accordingly, there is no IFA available.
[25] So for the forgoing reasons, I determine that you are Convention refugees under Section 96 of the Act and I therefore accept your claims.
———- REASONS CONCLUDED ———-