Citation: 2020 RLLR 167
Tribunal: Refugee Protection Division
Date of Decision: February 21, 2020
Panel: François Ramsay
Counsel for the Claimant(s): Jessica Lipes
Country: Saudi Arabia
RPD Number: MB9-23336
Associated RPD Number(s): N/A
ATIP Number: A-2022-00978
ATIP Pages: 000064-000068
REASONS FOR DECISION
INTRODUCTION
[1] These are the reasons for the decision in the claim of XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, (also known as XXXX XXXX), who claims to be a citizen of Saudi Arabia, and is claiming refugee protection pursuant to sections 96 and 97(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
[2] This claim has been decided without a hearing, according to the Immigration and Refugee Board’s Chairperson’s Instructions Governing the Streaming of Less Complex Claims at the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) and paragraph 170(f) of the Act.
[3] In rendering my reasons, I have considered and applied the Chairperson’s Guidelines on Proceedings Before the IRB Involving Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression.
ALLEGATIONS
[4] You allege the following:
[5] From a very young age, it is very clear for you that you want to be a woman.
[6] Attracted to men, then raped and subsequently blackmailed by a cousin because of that attraction, you realize at the age of 18 that you are not a gay man but rather a transgendered individual. From then onwards, you make the decision to hide your true gender identity while planning your departure from Saudi Arabia.
[7] It is in this context that you decide to pursue your university studies in the United States (USA). You reach the USA on XXXX XXXX 2018.
[8] In that country, while you do make your gender identity public, you do remain cautious as you fear that you might be denounced to Saudi Embassy officials or come across someone who knows you. You also become the target of harassment as well as rape and death threats at the hands of a group of Arab men who attend the same classes as you in university. As this situation becomes increasingly difficult, it not only prevents you from completing your last semester, but causes you to become suicidal and leads you to seek refuge somewhere else.
[9] It is in this context that you decide to come to Canada to seek asylum. You are presently pursuing the hormone treatment you started in the USA and are considering converting to the Christian faith.
DETERMINATION
[10] I find that you are a Convention refugee as you have established a serious possibility of persecution should you return to Saudi Arabia based on the grounds in section 96.
ANALYSIS
Identity
[11] I find that your identity as a national of Saudi Arabia is established by the documents provided, namely your passport.
Nexus
[12] I find that you have established a nexus to section 96 by reason of your membership in a particular social group, namely Saudi transgendered individuals.
Credibility
[13] Based on the documents in the file, I have noted no serious credibility issues.
[14] In particular, the evidence establishes the allegations as set out above. Exhibits E-3 to E- 6 corroborate your allegations with respect to the treatment you faced at the hands of your cousin in Saudi Arabia, and the transition process you have initiated through, inter alia, hormonal therapy. Exhibits E-1 and E-2 corroborate your allegations with respect to your status in the USA. After reviewing the documents, I have no reasons to doubt neither their authenticity, nor the truthfulness of their content.
[15] With respect to your failure to claim asylum in the USA, I find the explanations you have provided to justify your actions to be reasonable, in light of your specific circumstances. Therefore, I find that your actions neither display a lack of subjective fear, nor do they undermine your general credibility.
Objective basis of future risk
[16] Based on the credibility of your allegations, and the documentary evidence set out below, I find that as a transgendered individual, you have established a future risk that you will be subjected to the following harm should you return to Saudi Arabia: official and societal discrimination, harassment, physical violence, possibly of a sexual nature, arbitrary arrest and detention.
[17] The fact that you face this risk is corroborated by the documents found at tabs 2.1, 6.1 and 6.3 of the National Documentation Package for Saudi Arabia, in its March 29, 2019 Version.
Nature of the harm
[18] This harm clearly amounts to persecution.
State protection
[19] Considering that according to the above-cited documentary sources, authorities do not make a distinction between transgendered and intersexed individuals and homosexuals; considering the documented treatment reserved to homosexuals by police authorities, I find that there is clear and convincing evidence before me that the state is unable or unwilling to provide you with adequate protection.
Internal flight alternative
[20] I have considered whether a viable internal flight alternative exists for you. On the evidence before me, I find that there is a serious possibility of persecution throughout Saudi Arabia.
CONCLUSION
[21] Based on the analysis above, I conclude that you are a Convention refugee. Accordingly, I accept your claim.
(signed) François Ramsay
February 21, 2020