Citation: 2022 RLLR 72
Tribunal: Refugee Protection Division
Date of Decision: May 9, 2022
Panel: M. Rose
Counsel for the Claimant(s): Seyfi Sun
Country: China
RPD Number: TC1-19558
Associated RPD Number(s): N/A
ATIP Number: A-2022-01960
ATIP Pages: N/A
DECISION
[1] MEMBER: All right, so this is the decision for XXXX XXXX, the principal claimant file number is TC1-19558. I’ve had the opportunity today to hear your testimony and consider the other evidence in this case and so I am ready to render my decision orally.
[2] Now you are claiming to be a citizen of China and claiming refugee protection pursuant to Sections 96 and 97 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and today I do find that you are a Convention refugee for the following reasons.
[3] In terms of the full allegations, now those are set out in your Basis of Claim form but to briefly summarize, you allege a fear of persecution in China as a result of your religion. So since coming to Canada you have become a Christian and you fear persecution and you would be unable to practice your religion if you went back to China.
[4] Now your personal identity as a citizen of China has been established both by the testimony and the supporting documents and that includes a copy of your passport which is found in Exhibit 1. So I do find on a balance of probabilities that identity and country of reference have been established.
[5] Now considering all of the evidence I had in taking into account your particular circumstances I did find that you were a credible witness and I accept your testimony. Significantly there were no inconsistencies, omissions or contradictions between your testimony and the other evidence that I have before me including your Basis of Claim form.
[6] You testified today about how you became involved with the Living Stone Church here in Canada, so you only came to Christianity after you had arrived in Canada and after the birth of your son. What I found particularly compelling however was your spontaneous and detailed responses to questions that I asked about your religious beliefs, for example you were able to expand upon the miracles that you studied in the Bible and also you spoke about how your religion has impacted you, how it has affected your life and why you would not be able to practice your faith freely in China.
[7] Now I do note that there was a significant delay in making the claim, so you were without status in Canada for quite a number of years but when I take into account your particular circumstances as well as your explanation I do not find that that is determinative in this case.
[8] So as I mentioned it was only after coming to Canada that you became Christian, so that was one factor but furthermore that you were very young, you come to Canada to study as you were in a strange country all of a sudden cut off from your family and with a newborn child to care for, so I do accept your explanation about essentially being overwhelmed and not wanting to deal with that decision and then you spoke candidly about you know what led to the decision to actually make the claim last year. So you spoke about wanting you know your son to have more opportunities so I do find that you’ve provided a reasonable explanation for the delay in making this claim.
[9] Now in addition to your testimony which I said I had no reason to doubt, you’ve also provided a number of relevant and prohibitive documents and those do include a letter from your mother and from your friend here in Canada corroborating aspects of your Basis of Claim form as was the letter from the Living Stone Assembly Church and the baptism certificate and photographs from the baptism ceremony. So I do find that all these documents are relevant and serve to corroborate the core allegation that you have become Christian.
[10] So I do find on a balance of probabilities that you are a genuine believer in Christianity and you have established a subjective fear of return to China. I do find that there is a link between what you fear and one (1) of the five (5) Convention grounds, in your case that is your religion.
[11] In looking at the country condition documents for China the documentation in the National Documentation Package makes it very clear that religious persecution of Christians in China is not getting better, in fact it’s getting much worse and the Communist Party of China is tightening things up and making it yet even more restrictive so that people don’t have the right to exercise religious freedoms. For example in Item 2.9 of the NDP it notes that religious groups in China register with the government, those registration requirements are very restrictive, it serves to limit the growth of religious groups and the right to freedom of religion, assembly and association. Items 12.3 and 12.8 note that while there has been a variation in enforcement of religious restrictions across different provinces, the NDP reports that there has been a significant shift in China’s approach to religion which has led to an increase in religious persecution throughout China.
[12] Item 12.8 of the NDP indicates that according to the CFR in reaction to what is described as a surge in Christianity in China, adherents of the Christian religion have faced ongoing persecution in recent years. While house and underground churches traditionally face the brunt of persecution, under the president’s leadership state sanctioned churches have also been targeted. The increase in religious regulations and control has led to oversight of online discussions, installation of surveillance cameras in churches, collection of data on house churches and their members, increased interrogations and fines of religious practitioners, demolition of churches and religious symbols, restrictions on the establishment and operation of religious schools and on the printing of Bibles.
[13] Item 12.26 of the NDP notes that under new regulations religious personnel appointed at state sanctioned churches are required to make public pledges of loyalty to the communist ideology and party leaders and in some areas the president’s portrait is placed in the church, requirement is for congregations in the state sanctioned churches to sing the national anthem before worship, so that’s consistent with what you’ve learned about the state sanctioned Christianity in China.
[14] So overall the objective evidence is consistent with what your testimony and what you have alleged. So it was clear from your testimony that your religion is important to you and as you would continue to practice and would not be attending a state sanctioned church if you return to China that would put you at risk given the tightening of the government controls over religious practices.
[15] So I do find that the country condition evidence regarding the treatment of Christians lead me to find that your fear has an objective basis and is well-founded.
[16] Looking at the issue of state protection and Internal Flight Alternative, as the state in this case is essentially the agent of persecution I do not find that state protection would be available for you and furthermore there would be nowhere else in China that you could safely reside so there would be no Internal Flight Alternative available for you.
[17] So based on all of this evidence I do find you to be a Convention refugee and your claim is therefore accepted.
——— REASONS CONCLUDED ———