Citation: 2020 RLLR 126
Tribunal: Refugee Protection Division
Date of Decision: January 30, 2020
Panel: L. Hartslief
Counsel for the Claimant(s): Maureen Silcoff
Country: Sri Lanka
RPD Number: TB8-29465
Associated RPD Number(s): TB8-29491, TB8-29494 TB8-29495, TB8-29496
ATIP Number: A-2021-01106
ATIP Pages: 000066-000070
DECISION
[1] MEMBER: I have had an opportunity to review the evidence before me and I have decided to give an oral decision today. You will receive an unedited transcript of this oral decision in the mail in approximately three weeks and your counsel will also receive a copy and she can answer any related questions you may have at that time.
[2] This is the decision for [XXX] File number TB8-29465. You are all claiming to be citizens of Sri Lanka and you are claiming refugee protection pursuant to Sections 96 and 97(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
[3] I have considered your testimony and the other evidence in the case as well as oral submissions from counsel.
[4] I find that you are all Convention refugees for the reason that you have established there is a serious possibility of persecution in Sri Lanka based on your imputed antigovernment political opinion as suspected LTTE supporters.
[5] By way of background you allege the following; you sir are a Sinhalese [XXX] and you met with several potential customers who are all young Tamil men. While these men were in your vehicle you were stopped at a police check point where the police found problems with your passengers identity documents.
[6] You say the police then detained you and the Tamil men in your vehicle. During your ten day detention you were physically assaulted by six police officers and you were forced to attend multiple police stations to look at line ups of photographs and prisoners in an effort to identify alleged LTTE suspects.
[7] After ten days of detainment you say you were released on the condition that you would report to the police station every month. However you did not obey those instructions and instead you and your family went into hiding and then you made your way to Canada within a few weeks.
[8] After you left Sri Lanka and when you failed to report to the police station as instructed, you say the police visited your mother in law, searched the house and threatened to arrest you because of your disobedience if you were to return to Sri Lanka.
[9] Your personal identities as citizens of Sri Lanka have been established by your testimony and the supporting documentation namely copies of your birth certificates, national identity cards and passports. While your name does appear slightly differently on your birth certificate you provided a reasonable explanation that your name has changed shortly after your birth and the evidence of this can clearly be seen on Paragraph 13 of your birth certificate.
[10] I therefore find on a balance of probabilities that identity and country of reference have been established for all of you.
[11] I find that there is a link between what you fear and one of the five convention grounds, specifically your imputed antigovernment political opinion as suspected LTTE supporters. This claim is therefore assessed under Section 96 of the act.
[12] In terms of your general credibility I found you to be a credible witness and I therefore believe what you have alleged in your oral testimony and in your basis of claim form. You described in extensive detail the circumstances surrounding your meeting with the three potential customers your ride to drop off the customers and your eventual detention at the police station.
[13] Not only were you able to provide a step by step description of what happened but your provided spontaneous details and additional aspects of the environment, clothing and emotions involved during these events.
[14] You described your time at the police station and the punishment you received at the hands of the police. You described the weapons involved, the surrounding environment, the ill-treatment you received and the officers involved.
[15] Finally you described the ongoing circumstances of your ten day detention including the cell conditions, the various trips to the police stations and your emotions during that time. Your description of events was provided in a detailed and straightforward manner and I have no reason to disbelieve your testimony.
[16] You presented your testimony in a clear and consistent manner and you responded spontaneously to questioning.
[17] In support of your testimony your provided medical documents describing your injuries as well as sworn affidavits from your parents regarding the difficulties your family has experienced.
[18] In particular you provided a sworn affidavit from your mother in law which confirms that the police came to her house looking for you and when it was clear you and your family had left the country the police became angry and threatened to arrest you if you return.
[19] Based on the evidence before me I’m satisfied that there is a serious possibility of persecution for you and your family members should you return to Sri Lanka. I’m satisfied that you have experienced past persecution at the hands of the police, I’m also satisfied that the Sri Lankan authorities have a record of your detention and once you enter the Sri Lankan airport you and your family will be flagged for disobeying police instructions.
[20] The objective evidence regarding the country conditions in Sri Lanka is consistent with you allegations that there is a serious possibility of persecution if you return to Sri Lanka. I looked at a number of documents in the national documentation package dated March 29th 2019 as well as counsel’s country conditions documents which are in Exhibit 13.
[21] The objective evidence at items 1.5, 2.1 and 10.9 are ail consistent with your allegation that perceived LTTE supporters are targeted by the state and there is continued monitoring and surveillance by Sri Lankan authorities as well as ongoing harassment of those who are suspected of supporting the LTTE regardless of their ethnicity.
[22] In addition the objective evidence at Article, sorry at Item 14.1 supports your allegation that as you have been accused of violating Sri Lankan law by allegedly lying to the police and failing to report monthly as instructed you are now considered a person of interest to the Sri Lankan authorities and you and your family will likely be flagged at the airport and sent to the police directly from the airport.
[23] In light of the fact that you are a Sinhalese family I have also considered the implications of the recent elections, specifically on you and your family members. The media articles that were submitted to me by counsel confirm that the new Gotabaya Rajapaksa government has not hesitated to arrest or detain any person regardless of their ethnicity if they are perceived to hold antigovernment political opinions.
[24] For example according to an article found at Exhibit 13 the new president illegally detained an employee at the Swiss Embassy and acquired a list of names from her of Sri Lankan citizens who had fled the country as well as the names of people who had assisted them.
[25] The new president has also imposed a travel ban on over seven hundred police officers and members of the Criminal Investigations Division for the mere fact that they were investigating him for human rights abuses.
[26] The Centre for Policy Alternatives is quoted in this article as saying Sri Lanka is beginning a slow decent into something very frightening.
[27] For these reasons based on consistent and credible evidence including the country condition documents I find your fear of persecution to be well founded.
[28] For the reasons already stated I am satisfied that there is a serious possibility of persecution at the hands of the state should your return to Sri Lanka. As the state is the agent of persecution in your situation I am satisfied that you have rebutted the presumption of state protection because the state is unwilling to protect you and you cannot access or otherwise expect to receive adequate state protection throughout Sri Lanka.
[29] Furthermore as the state is the agent of persecution I’m satisfied that it would be unsafe for you to seek refuge anywhere else in Sri Lanka. Therefore there is no viable internal flight alternative.
[30] Based on the forgoing analysis l find that you have established there is a serious possibility of persecution on a convention ground namely your imputed antigovernment political opinion as suspected LTTE supporters.
[31] I therefore find that you are all Convention refugees and I accept all of your claims. Thank you very much, have a wonderful afternoon.
———- REASONS CONCLUDED ———-