Citation: 2020 RLLR 137
Tribunal: Refugee Protection Division
Date of Decision: October 8, 2020
Panel: Michael Somers
Counsel for the Claimant(s): Zohra Safi
Country: Iran
RPD Number: TB9-28317
Associated RPD Number(s):
ATIP Number: A-2021-01106
ATIP Pages: 000134-000137
DECISION
[1] MEMBER: The Panel has considered the claimant’s testimony and other evidence in this case and is ready to render its decision orally.
[2] The claimant is a citizen of Iran. He has made a refugee protection claim under Sections 96 and 97(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
Allegations
[3] The specifics of the claim are stated in the claimant’s narrative and amended narrative, of course, the narrative is found in his Basis of Claim form (BOC). He alleges the following:
[4] He is a citizen of Iran. He has recently been divorced. He is a well-educated individual. He has an [XXX] in [XXX] as well as a [XXX] an [XXX] in [XXX]. He has worked in Iran as a [XXX] for at least, maybe, eight years. However, I don’t think he would disagree by saying that he is more of a [XXX] than anything else.
[5] He fears to return to Iran. He fears the Iranian government; that he has been targeted, persecuted, by the Iranian authorities due to his affiliation to [XXX] and, also due to his religious affiliation, that he is Dervish Sufi.
[6] He is, what I would describe as, an accomplished [XXX] who has gone through, what I would say, a formal background, a formal teaching, in [XXX]. He didn’t go to university for that. He has won, what sounds like, local and regional, maybe even national, [XXX]. He has entertained abroad. His group – he has produced at least [XXX].
[7] In about 2010 he, how he would describe it, officially became Dervish. Although, he was interested in learning and participating in the Dervish community years before that. And, in his particular fact situation, that he has been incarcerated, charged with what I would call fabricated allegations and was sentenced to at least one year in jail. Once released from jail he realized, or even probably before that, that the Iranian authorities would continue to harass, target him, based on his religious affiliation and, also his political affiliation.
[8] He left Iran on or about [XXX] 2019, and made a claim for refugee protection on or about [XXX] 2019. He left his former wife in Iran with the intention of his former wife coming to Canada and reuniting with him. However, due to pressure from his in-laws, pressure on his wife, and just not the pressure on his wife but the wife, his former wife, herself, due to his activities, due to his religion, due to incarceration, there was a divorce recently.
Determination
[9] The Board finds that the claimant is a Convention refugee pursuant to Section 96 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. The reasons are as follows.
ANALYSIS
[10] The Board is concerned with the issues of credibility and state protection.
Identity and Credibility
[11] The Board was satisfied with the claimant’s personal identity based on his testimony and a certified copy of his passport and other secondary identification documents that were filed on his behalf.
[12] The Board found the claimant to be a credible and reliable witness. There was no significant differences between his testimony and his narrative and the numerous personal documents filed on his behalf.
[13] One could describe this claim as a claim that has two premises or two, basically, fears/reasons why he is leaving Iran and coming to Canada to seek international asylum, refugee protection. One, being a [XXX] which that his [XXX] doesn’t fit within the context of Iranian society and the rigid perception and attitude of the Iranian authorities towards [XXX] and, well, [XXX]. Second, is that he is Dervish, he’s Sufi. In fact, in his testimony, which again the Board found credible, he sort of put the two together as well, that they mesh, that being Sufi, being Dervish, and the meditation process, the calmness, the peacefulness, erased blocks and made him a better [XXX]. And he indicated that his [XXX] was not for the regime, it was not for anyone but himself and his spiritual beliefs and his worship to humanity and that includes God. And because of these two purposes, these two reasons, he is being pursued, harassed, by the authorities.
[14] The Board found that he is indeed a [XXX], this is based on his testimony, on the numerous documents, on his activities in Canada, on the documents on the websites that show him as a [XXX]. He is a [XXX], that’s a fact. Regarding his religion, is he Sufi? Is he Dervish? The answer is yes. On the evidentiary standard that this Board has to use, on a balance of probability, he is. I found his testimony when he was talking about, very briefly about, the Dervish principles, the religion, the environment, the culture, I found it to be, for him to be, articulate and not vague in his testimony and there was a truthfulness in his testimony, in his convictions, when he was talking which was certainly, was not made up. So, on a balance of probability, he is Dervish.
[15] One then looks at the country condition articles and reports that have been filed, both by counsel and the Refugee Protection Division. Well, and one should note particularly for the Refugee Protection Division’s articles, many of those articles are from well respected international human rights organizations like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and then there’s reports from agencies, state departments, from well-respected Western democracies such as this very country, Canada, Finland, United Kingdom, United States and they all state the same. And what is that? That there is – that the Dervish community, in fact, one should say all minority religious communities in Iran, are persecuted, are targeted, are looked in a very restrictive way.
[16] Also, these articles and reports state, again clearly, that musicians are targeted. That, for some reason, the Iranian authorities see musicians as dangerous. Particularly, that they are perceived, that their music touches upon politics, more so freedom of association, freedom of expression; many things that this regime sees as threatening to them. So, the country condition articles, this Board finds that the country condition articles, his testimony, the personal documents filed, finds that if the claimant did return that he would have a well-founded fear of persecution.
[17] I don’t think there’s any need to get into the specifics of the persecutions or the lack of state protection in Iran that is directed towards religious minorities and, in particular, the Dervish community. It’s in many articles. Same with discrimination, harassment that amounts to persecution directed towards musicians. Simply put, what the claimant was testifying to, what his allegations and his claims were stating, is supported by what’s in the country condition articles and reports. The, at best, could be described as a Kangaroo Court that the claimant stood in for a short period of time; it must have been horrific. But again, the country condition articles and reports state exactly that, that that happens. And again, I found the testimony of this particular claimant to be credible.
[18] So, there’s a – the claimant has met the presumption that there is no adequate state protection within Iran with clear and convincing evidence, particularly given that the agent of persecution is the state.
[19] Regarding the issue of internal flight alternatives, well there is none. Why? Because, again, the state is the agent of persecution.
CONCLUSION
[20] Based on this brief analysis, the Board finds that the claimant is a Convention refugee and accepts his claim. This hearing is over.