2023 RLLR 106

Citation: 2023 RLLR 106
Tribunal: Refugee Protection Division
Date of Decision: February 3, 2023
Panel: Isis Van Loon
Counsel for the Claimant(s): N/A
Country: Lebanon
RPD Number: VC2-02639
Associated RPD Number(s): N/A
ATIP Number: A-2024-00593
ATIP Pages: N/A

DECISION

[1]         MEMBER: This is a decision of the Refugee Protection Division in the claim of XXXX XXXX (ph), also known as XXXX XXXX, as a citizen of Lebanon who is claiming refugee protection pursuant to section 96 and subsection 97(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. In rendering my reasons, I have considered and applied the Chairperson’s guidelines on women refugee claimants fearing gender-related persecution as well as the Chairperson’s guideline on proceedings before the IRB involving sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics to ensure that appropriate accommodations are made in questioning you, as well as the overall hearing process, and in assessing your claim. 

DETERMINATION

[2]         I find you are a Convention refugee as you have established a well-founded fear of persecution based on a Convention ground.

ANALYSIS

Identity

[3]         Your passport lists your first name as XXXX and your gender as male. However, you are a transgender woman and you prefer XXXX and the female pronouns. According to the CBSA notes, when you first came to Canada, you used the name XXXX in the past, and this is recorded in the XXXX 2022 interview with CBSA in Exhibit 1. I also note that the medical reports vary. Some use XXXX and some use XXXX, with the same last name. So, I find that your identity as a national of Lebanon is established by your testimony as well as the supporting documentation on file, which includes a certified true copy of your passport in Exhibit 1. 

[4]         You told me that you were not sure if your father holds Armenian citizenship but that he might. And, in fact, during the break, you conferred with your brother, who said, no, he does not. I would be inclined to agree with you based on the Armenian law as well in Tab 3.1, the law of the Republic of Armenia on the citizenship of the Republic of Armenia states under article 1 that you are not allowed to hold citizenship simultaneously in Armenia and in another state. Article 11 states that any children born to Armenian parents are Armenian regardless of where they were born. However, you are a Lebanese citizen, and I am satisfied that even if — and this is a big if based on what you have told me — your father had held Armenian citizenship when you were born, you are not able to hold Armenian citizenship because holding citizenship in another state — because you hold citizenship in another state, Lebanon. 

[5]         So, your allegations are set out in your Basis of Claim form and by your testimony. The following is an extremely brief summary. You are transgender and you fear persecution as a transgender women if you were to return to Lebanon. 

Credibility

[6]         A presumption before me is that what you tell me is true. However, this can be rebutted in appropriate circumstances, such as omissions, lack of detail, contradictions, et cetera. In your case, you provided detailed answers to my questions. You seem very well-aware of and well-informed. And I really found nothing to disbelieve you on. In fact, I accept what you have told me as credible. 

[7]         Furthermore, you provided credible documentation in support of your claim, including Canadian medical documents reporting XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX over time in response to treatment. Upon review of the lab results, I find no reason to doubt their authenticity and, therefore, place significant weight on them as they serve to corroborate what you have been telling me. 

[8]         So, I found you to be credible witness and you have backed it up with your documentation as well. So, I believe what you have alleged in support of your claim.  

Nexus

[9]         I find the persecution you face has a nexus to the Convention grounds. You have demonstrated a well-founded fear of persecution based on your membership in a particular social group, as a transgender woman. Therefore, I have assessed your claim under section 96.

[10]      Now, a well-founded fear of persecution must include both a subjective and an objective basis for that fear and it must be forward-looking. Based on your testimony, and supporting documents, as well as the country condition documents for Lebanon, I do find you have a well-founded fear of persecution for these reasons. 

[11]      So, in terms of subjective fear, you came to Canada on XXXX XXXX of 2020 on a student visa. That student visa in Exhibit 1 shows it was valid until XXXX of 2024. You applied for asylum, signing your Basis of Claim form on January the 4th of 2022, while that student visa was still valid. You explained to me that you did not apply for asylum until over a year after your arrival because you thought at first that you would be able to apply to stay in Canada on a permit after graduation, but later, this felt too uncertain and risky to you to take a chance on that. You also told me that you sought out medical assistance with XXXX shortly after arriving in Canada and you were able to start XXXX XXXX within a few months of arriving. So, I find that you have adduced sufficient credible evidence to establish your subjective fear of returning to Lebanon.

Objective Basis

[12]      I asked you what would happen if you went back to Lebanon to live as XXXX, and you said you would face legal as well as health issues. You said that it is not a good situation for transgender people in Lebanon. You said you had gone to doctors in Lebanon who refused to treat you when you were 17. You also told me that you researched the discrimination you would face in the workplace, that you have read news stories about that, and that you would not be able to have your state identity documents reflect your true gender. You told me that you would risk being killed, and, minimally, would suffer mentally, and that you had had a really difficult time when you were in Lebanon as well. And you told me quite clearly that you just simply would not be able to live as yourself in Lebanon. 

[13]      There is abundant objective country evidence in the current National Documentation Package for Lebanon which confirms the situation for transgender women, such as yourself, in Lebanon. NDP 6.10, the Queer Refugee Hearings Program reported that while there are no specific stats, that LGBTQ activists estimate there are a couple of thousand transgender individuals in Lebanon and transgender women face systemic discrimination in education, employment, housing, and the provision of health care. They are also at greater risk of arbitrary arrest, which is often accompanied by physical violence by law enforcement officials. Trans women also face routine violence and the threat of violence by members of the public and they are denied police protection, which compromises their ability to live in safety and positions them in a perpetual state of precarity. This discrimination, which emanates from severe social stigma and isolation, is worsened by a lack of resources tailored for trans people’s needs and by their difficulty in obtaining identification documents that reflect their true gender and expression. 

[14]      NDP 6.3 says many of the same things about the systemic discrimination and education, which you, in fact, described to me your experiences in education when you were in grade school, employment, housing, and the provision of health care, greater risk for arbitrary arrest. Now, while the Lebanese law does not specifically explicitly criminalize being trans, article 534 of the Penal Code punishes any sexual intercourse contrary to the order of nature with up to a year in prison. And the law has been regularly enforced to arrest transgender women who are misidentified as gay men. Trans people are also targeted under laws of violating public morality, incitement to debauchery, and secret prostitution. This is NDP 6.4. The most common patterns for arrests are based on individuals visually inscribed with non-normative gender looks or through collecting mobile data mostly accessed during the investigation without any written judicial authorization.

[15]      So, I mentioned a bit about the police targeting and violence, and a 2015 study identified anecdotal evidence from local trans women who reported either themselves or their friends had been arrested several times on the streets for masquerading as women and were often detained for long periods of time without receiving information or legal assistance. A 2019 report by Helem, Human Rights Watch, and MOSAIC found that transgender women are at greater risk of arbitrary arrest and physical violence at police checkpoints. That is NDP 6.9. In addition to the state, there is considerable non-state violations of the rights of LGBTQ people, including abuse, assault, and an absence of legal protection for these human rights violations, according to NDP 6.5.

[16]      So, I am satisfied that this ongoing systemic discrimination, harassment, and, in fact, violence, and other forms of mistreatment of transgender women both from state and non-state sources denies you your key human dignity and your core human rights to live and be who you are, and that, therefore, this amounts to persecution. Accordingly, I find that your fear of persecution in Lebanon is well-founded. 

State Protection and Internal Flight Alternative 

[17]      In this case, a primary agent of persecution is the state, so the persecution that you would face if you return to Lebanon would be at the hands of the authorities. And accordingly, find there is no state protection available to you and the presumption of state protection is rebutted. 

[18]      The state is in control of all of its territories and the mistreatment of transgender women is found across society throughout the country. Therefore, on the evidence before me, I find that you would face a serious possibility of persecution throughout Lebanon. There is no viable internal flight alternative where you could safely relocate given your particular circumstances. 

CONCLUSION

[19]      Based on all the evidence before me, I conclude that you are a Convention refugee, and therefore, I am accepting your claim.

——— REASONS CONCLUDED ———