Citation: 2022 RLLR 37
Tribunal: Refugee Protection Division
Date of Decision: November 9, 2022
Panel: Josh Scheinert
Counsel for the Claimant(s): N/A
Country: India
RPD Number: TC2-22851
Associated RPD Number(s): N/A
ATIP Number: A-2022-01960
ATIP Pages: N/A
DECISION
[1] MEMBER: So this is decision of XXXX XXXX, file number TC2-22851. I have considered the testimony and other evidence presented. Mr. XXXX you allege persecution based on a previous relationship you had in India that defied familial and social norms in your and your girlfriend’s community.
DETERMINATION:
[2] I have determined that you are a Convention refugee for the following reasons.
ALLEGATIONS:
[3] You are a citizen of India. You allege if you return to India, you will be harmed by your ex-girlfriend’s family and those individuals with whom her family is connected including the police in your home state of Punjab. All of this is on account of your previous relationship with this girl, now woman, named XXXX who her family disapproved of being in a relationship with you.
[4] You allege there is no state protection or internal flight alternative available to you.
IDENTITY:
[5] Your identity is confirmed by your Indian passport.
NEXUS:
[6] There is a Nexus between this claim and the Convention ground of particular social group for couples who defy deeply ingrained social norms. Therefore Mr. XXXX I have assessed your claim under section 96.
CREDIBILITY:
[7] Mr. XXXX, I found you to be a credible witness. I want you to know that at the outset that you appeared alone today unrepresented by Counsel. This was not your first choice and you had expressed your hopes at having today’s hearing postponed, a decision that was denied just before today’s hearing.
[7] Nevertheless, you attended and you spoke sincerely that you were forthright. You never embellished and you did not try to speculate. You were able to recall events that happened over a decade over and it is clear from the testimony and a point I made during the hearing that these experiences are still with you today and the impacts are clearly felt.
[8] Mr. XXXX you established that you were in a relationship in high school with someone named XXXX. You testified how you were friends first, what you liked about her, that she used to sit on the bus together. You also established that her family disapproved of this relationship, a fact that you didn’t realise at first until they discovered that you and she were together.
[9] You described what they did to you as a result of this, how they abused you. How they used their connections with the police to have you abused further and you described what it was like to be in that situation. How you wanted to understand and what was driving this behaviour but were too concerned with trying to protect yourself in those moments.
[10] You described the fear that you had of them, especially knowing their connections in the community which you also described. You testified how your cousin was the type of person that people were afraid to talk to or hold accountable. That he would walk around with a gun over his shoulders instead of keeping it safely at home the way one should normally do that.
[11] You established that when you were initially targeted by your family in 2007, XXXX was kept away from you for years but you would still out of love and affection try and find out what was happening with her. You would try and sneak glances of her if you knew she would be somewhere and that 4 years later in 2011 you managed to have one secret encounter with her.
[12] That was discovered by your family and this reignited their animosity towards you. Something that lasted for over a year until 2012 when they attacked you again signifying that they are animus and their desire to harm you has gone on for 5 years and showed no signs of ending.
[13] In 2012, your father decided that the danger to you was too great and you said that something you only realise now that how right he was to appreciate the situation you were in and he sent you abroad. You were sent to Canada at the XXXX of XXXX 2012. Your legal status here expired in XXXX of 2014. You brought a refugee claim and you signed your Basis of Claim in 2020.
[14] Then we spoke about the intervening years between 2014 and 2020 and to try and understand the delay and you explained your situation very eloquently. You were scared. You were alone. At first you didn’t even realise that you were illegal until 2015 or 2016 when you tried to get a job and realised you didn’t have a SIN card and your employer helped you discover that you had no status.
[15] This made you increasingly fearful and mistrustful of people because you said you were alone without family and you didn’t know who could be trusted and you discovered that you had been taken advantage of many times. Promised jobs, promised payments, things never came through.
[16] Despite all of this I want to note on record you had developed an appreciation or admiration towards police here in Canada and expressed an interest in becoming a police officer. You went so far as to begin the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. You worked. Saved money and paid what you could to enroll in those courses only to then discover that you could not take them because you were not a Canadian citizen and then the money you paid was not returned to you.
[17] Later due to some good fortune talking to friends about how scared you were to return to India you were advised that maybe you should come clean and tell Canadian authorities that you were scared and that perhaps you could be protected and this is what happened and you brought your refugee claim and so I find that your delay is reasonable and explained in your circumstances.
[18] So as a result, Mr. XXXX I find that you are credible. That you established your relationship. That you established you were targeted because of your relationship both by XXXX’s family and the police and that this targeting went on for a long period of time. Your subjective fear has been established.
PERSECUTION:
[19] Objective country evidence supports your claim. Couples in India in either love marriages or relationships that defy honour are at risk. India is a traditional society and couples whose relationships contravenes family wishes or perceived family honour can jeopardise their safety. Communities in India and traditional family strictly adhere to notion who can and cannot be in a relationship.
[20] The law commission refers to the type of violence that comes from this as honour killings or honour crimes. A report by the immigration refugee Board notes that honour killings are under reported in India and Punjab is a state where they are especially – where they are especially a problem. Perpetrators of these crimes are most frequently family members of those involved in the relationships.
[21] The report continues and notes that police hold attitudes that are similar to those of the broader society and that this leads to them colluding with the dominant group or the group that is targeting the individuals for having violated honour. Punjab is a state with a known problem of honour-based violence.
[22] This supports your allegations concerning the harm you experienced and harm you would experience should you return. The objective evidence also notes that Indian police that can track and locate citizens throughout the country. Here the evidence is mixed on how Indian officials can track or locate citizens throughout the country but the evidence indicates on a balance of probabilities Indian authorities can locate individuals in certain circumstances.
[23] This is through a combination of tracking methods, either through tenant verification or the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System, CCTNS which is a national digital system aimed to establish connectivity across 15,000 police station throughout India. 97% of police station can connect to CCTNS and software is deployed at 95% of stations.
[24] Tennent verification is a system for landlords to submit perspective tenants for police verification including from their home and state district. The objective evidence indicates a system is in place but verification is not adhered to widely or strictly across India. Communication between state and police offices is poor.
[25] Reading of the objective evidence on the ability to track individuals in India is mixed. The means exists but are imperfectly used. What matters therefore is the desire on the part of state agents to use the tools at their disposal. This is something I will address shortly.
[26] Also, important here is the corruption within India police. This indicates on a balance of probabilities police could be persuaded to use means to locate individuals in India if given the right incentive or pressures. A point that further supports your allegations given your testimony that you personally witnessed XXXX’s family exchanging money with the police when you were being abused.
[27] Therefore, on a balance of probabilities Mr. XXXX I find your fear of persecution in India is well-founded given the prevalence of honour violence, police corruption and the ability of state agents to locate individuals across India. These findings rely on NDP items 1.5, 5.10, 10.10, 10.13 and 12.5.
STATE PROTECTION:
[28] Mr. XXXX, I find that state protection would not be available to you. The evidence above notes that state agents have been involved in your abuse and targeting and they are connected to XXXX’s family and influenced and corrupted by them.
[29] As well the evidence above indicates that police often hold the same views as XXXX’s family that led to you and her being targeted in the first place. This indicates that you would not necessarily find the safety you needed if you had to run from XXXX’s family to police.
[30] Therefore, the presumption of state protection is rebutted on a balance of probabilities.
INTERNAL FLIGHT ALTERNATIVE:
[31] There is no viable internal flight alternative available to you in India. The objective evidence discussed above discloses the agent of persecution have the means to locate you throughout India on a balance of probabilities. The question is whether they also have the motivation.
[32] On a balance of probabilities, the answer is yes. This is because the motivation to locate you is driven by family animosity and questions of honour. Mr. XXXX you are not just one person who is fleeing a local village police because they have taken an interest in you in one reason or another, something that with the passage of time, as it’s been 10 years in your case is something that could likely recede and the police could be distracted.
[33] But this is different. You are someone who according to XXXX’s family, an influential family, created a lasting blemish on their honour. They are animus against you lasted 5 years in India. There is no evidence to indicate it has subsided or evaded over time. This is further informed by your testimony describing what types of people are after you, the types of views they hold and their attitudes about themselves and their attitudes about others.
[34] XXXX’s family believes you have robbed them and their daughter of their honour. The evidence indicates on a balance of probabilities her family will continue its quest and use the means at its disposal including family connections to target you if you returned to India.
[35] Therefore, I find there is no viable IFA available to you in India on a balance of probabilities.
CONCLUSION:
[36] For the aforementioned reasons and based on the totality of the evidence Mr. XXXX I find you to be a Convention refugee. You have a well-founded fear of persecution in India based on your membership in a particular social group. Your claim is accepted.
[37] In closing, Mr. XXXX you have been very honest in talking about the sacrifice that you, XXXX and your whole family has had to endure on account of what happened. You testified movingly to your regents. You also testified about everything this experience has taught you and your personal growth and that over the past couple of years due to the lessons you learned and due to your own capacities, which you might now have know you have been able to start rebuilding. I have met, many, many fine and able and courage’s people through this job.
[38] Your testimony today will stay with me as someone who has overcome a very challenging situation and proven himself to be better and so I just want to encourage you to continue building what you are building and to contributing as you have been contributing to helping people when you can, as you say you were not helped and I hope that just in the same way that you have said you have learned a lot living here.
[39] You learned a lot from Canada I hope that over your many years here in the future people can learn a lot from you. That brings the decision to a close.
[40] Mr. XXXX that is the end of your hearing.
[41] CLAIMANT: Okay.
[42] MEMBER: I think I said everything I needed to say. I want to wish you the very best going forward. You will get a copy of that in the mail and all the normally a lawyer would explain what happens next. I actually can’t tell you exactly what the next steps are. It will all be laid out for you in the mail.
[43] CLAIMANT: Okay.
[44] MEMBER: But rest assured that everything is now official and now it’s just a matter of the paperwork and bureaucracy handling itself. If for whatever reason you don’t get something in the mail, it might take some time. It might take up to a month.
[45] CLAIMANT: Okay.
[46] MEMBER: Please make sure to contact the Refugee Board. Do you have a phone number for it?
[47] CLAIMANT: No.
[48] MEMBER: Okay so you can go on the internet to the Refugee Board website. Just make sure that you have a record, you will have your name and your file number and they will be able to look you up but if in a month you haven’t heard anything just, please make sure, don’t leave this to chance. You have now you have to be in control of it. So –
[49] CLAIMANT: Okay.
[50] MEMBER: It should be coming but if not get in touch with them.
[51] CLAIMANT: Okay.
[52] MEMBER: Okay. Dr. Khan thank you for being here. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX.
[53] INTERPRETER: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX
[54] MEMBER: Okay.
[55] INTERPRETER: But it’s the weather nowadays.
[56] MEMBER: Yes.
[57] INTERPRETER: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX.
[58] MEMBER: Yeah. Okay. Mr. XXXX thank you again very much for speaking so honestly and sharing.
[59] CLAIMANT: Thank you to you sir.
[60] MEMBER: You’re welcome. Okay everyone.
[61] CLAIMANT: Thank you Dr. Khan.
[62] INTERPRETER: Thank you sir. Have a good evening.
[63] MEMBER: Bye. Bye.
——— REASONS CONCLUDED ———