2023 RLLR 173
Citation: 2023 RLLR 173
Tribunal: Refugee Protection Division
Date of Decision: December 22, 2023
Panel: Ayoni Shaibu
Counsel for the Claimant(s): Linda Kassim
Country: Ethiopia
RPD Number: TC3‑35923
Associated RPD Number(s): N/A
ATIP Number: A-2024-00894
ATIP Pages: N/A
DECISION
[1] MEMBER: This is the decision of the Refugee Protection Division for XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, and last name, XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. You allege you are a citizen of Ethiopia and you are claiming refugee protection pursuant to section 96 and 97(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. I have considered your testimony and the other evidence which you have presented and I am ready to render my decision orally. The written decision will come to you shortly in the mail.
Allegations:
[2] The full details of your allegations are set out in your Basis of Claim form found at Exhibit 2. In summary, you allege fear of harm in Ethiopia at the hands of the Ethiopian government and security forces due to your Tigrayan ethnicity and perceived support of the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front or TPLF.
[3] You allege that your father, who was serving his country as an XXXX for the XXXX XXXX XXXX in Sudan has not been able to return home because his colleagues who returned either ended up in prison or are dead. You allege that in XXXX 2020, about the time when the war started, your family members were taken from their homes by the military, and that they also came looking for your father, at which time he was already on the XXXX XXXX XXXX in Sudan. And because they could not find him, they detained your mother in his place. You allege that they had weapons in your house and your home was constantly under surveillance.
[4] You allege that after this incident in XXXX 2020, and again in XXXX 2021, two (2) different occasions, you were detained, again, by the authorities for your perceived support of the TPLF, and you were released on condition not to interact with Tigrayans, except for your family. You allege that these incidents make you fearful for your life and you started making arrangements to leave Ethiopia.
[5] You allege that you went to Rwanda to participate in a program, and also because you wanted to avoid the security situation in Ethiopia. And while in Rwanda, you felt that you were being spied upon, as your friend informed you. You decided to leave Rwanda to make a claim in Canada. The full details of your allegations are set out in your Basis of Claim form.
Determination:
[6] For the reasons that follow, I find you are a convention refugee pursuant to section 96 of the Act, as there exists a serious possibility of persecution should you return to Ethiopia on account of your Tigrayan ethnicity and your perceived support of the TPLF.
Identity:
[7] I find your identity as a citizen of Ethiopia is established on a balance of probabilities by your oral testimony and your seized Ethiopian passport found at Exhibit 1.
Nexus:
[8] I find that there is also a link between your alleged fear of harm and at least one (1) of the convention grounds. In this case, your Tigrayan ethnicity coupled with your perceived support of the TPLF. And for this reason, I have assessed your claim pursuant to section 96 of the Act.
Credibility and Subjective Fear:
[9] Pursuant to the Maldonado principal in refugee claims, when a claimant swears to the truth of the allegations, this creates a presumption that those allegations are true, unless there are reasons to doubt their truthfulness. And I find you to be a credible witness who testified in a straightforward manner. You did not try to embellish your claim. And you were able to answer the questions that I asked regarding minor concerns in your claim. I did not observe any relevant contradictions between your testimony and the documents that you have provided. So, I find you to be a credible witness and I believe what you have alleged in your oral testimony and your Basis of Claim form.
[10] I had concerns about your failure to claim in Rwanda. And I also asked you questions about whether you could make a claim in Uganda, where your father already has refugee status. You explained that your father, with respect to Uganda, explained to you that the security situation was no different from Ethiopia, and he did not want you to put all your eggs, to use your words, in one (1) basket. So, for safety reasons, you did not make a claim in Uganda. You did not go to Uganda. And with respect to Rwanda, you testified that your friend that was in Uganda informed you about two (2) Ethiopian people who he perceived to be spies, and you also perceived to be spies, were following and asking after you. And, again, for security reasons, you did not make a claim in Rwanda.
[11] I have considered whether this undermines the credibility of your allegations and your subjective fear, and given your explanation, I find it does not significantly undermine your subjective fear or credibility, as you provided reasonable explanation relating to your safety concerns in those countries.
[12] With respect to your core allegations, you did testify about the two (2) incidents where you were detained by the authorities and questioned about your father, who was no longer in Ethiopia at the time, and about your support of the TPLF, which you denied. You also testified about your mother’s detention. You testified about the treatment that you received from the authorities during the period of your father’s absence up until the time that you left Ethiopia. You testified that these incidents informed your decision to leave the country.
[13] You also testified about the summons that your mother received from the authorities after your last detention. I note that the summons is not mentioned in your mother’s letter, and you did explain that you did not know why she did not mention it. I did not have any reasons to doubt the authenticity of the summons. I see that it is dated more recently. And for that reason, I assign it weight, along with the other documents which you have provided in support of your claim, which are found at Exhibit 5. These include your birth certificate, showing your place of birth as Addis Ababa.
[14] I also have on the list of document your father’s XXXX XXXX XXXX ID. I noted that there was a little discrepancy with respect to the spelling of his name, but you did explain that this has to do with translations from the American language to the English language. And again I do not have any concerns about that, because all the documents are also show what his name is, including his commendation letter, certificate, his refugee ID in Uganda; that is your father’s refugee ID in Uganda.
[15] There is also support letter from your friends and former colleague in Rwanda and in Ethiopia, both of whom attest to the allegations that you have made to support the allegations or confirm the allegations that you have made in your narrative with respect to your XXXX 2021 detention and the experience in Rwanda. Aside these support letters there is also the support letter from your mother that also details the problems that your family have faced as a result of their work for the Ethiopian government before the new government came into power, as well as your father’s XXXX XXXX XXXX in Sudan, for which he is not able to return, and your two (2) detentions which you mentioned in your narrative, as well as your own detention. And of course, there is summons which I mentioned earlier on, as well as screenshots of the documents which you have provided in support of your claim were provided to you. There is also family pictures showing that your family members, your parents, your father in particular, was in the XXXX.
[16] I have no reasons to doubt the authenticity of these documents and I have assigned them full weight. I find that you have established your profile as Tigrayan. Sorry. I did not mention that there is your mother’s Addis Ababa resident ID that shows her ethnicity as Tigrayan. I find these documents corroborate your core allegations. I find them to establish your identity as Tigrayan. You have also established your allegations of fear of harm from the authorities in Ethiopia. On a balance of probabilities, I find your subject fear is established.
Objective Basis:
[17] I have considered the National Documentation Package for Ethiopia, which is found at Exhibit 3, and I find that it supports your fear of arbitrary arrest, detention, torture, and possibly death because of your Tigrayan identity and perceived political opinion as a support of TPLF.
[18] Item 10.12 of the objective evidence for Ethiopia indicates that Tigrayans are currently the most targeted people, and that there is a general impression that they are losing their citizenship rights across Ethiopia because the current government suspects Tigrayans of supporting the TPLF.
[19] Item 2.1 of the objective evidence also indicates that there were reports of arbitrary arrest by the security forces, that the security forces ethically profiled and arbitrarily arrested Tigrayans throughout the year. There is a report that approximately 9,000 Tigrayans were still in detention as of June 17, 2022. And that Amara (ph) security forces have also held hundreds and possibly thousands of Tigrayans in life-threatening conditions. This is consistent with your testimony that there is still tension between Amara forces and Tigrayans.
[20] The same objective evidence reports that in August of 2022 that there was resumption of hostilities; that the police engaged in widespread ethnically-based detention of Tigrayans, and the Addis Ababa police commissioner maintained that arrested Tigrayans were under investigation for alleged support of the TPLF.
[21] Item 1.35 of the objective evidence reports that since the state of emergency was lifted in February of 2022, reactions to the conflict have continued to effect all persons of Tigrayan origin, as all Tigrayans are suspected by the authorities of affiliation with the TPLF. Tigrayans outside Tigray are still exposed to widespread discrimination, persistent rights, and deprivation of liberty. As of July 2022, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission reported that Tigrayans have been subject on the full treatment while armed (inaudible) groups and (inaudible) have conducted ethnic-motivated killings, physical injury, and destruction or looting of property against Tigrayans across many parts of the country.
[22] Given the state of the objective evidence, and in the absence of serious credibility concerns with respect to your allegations, I find that you have established an objectively well-founded fear of persecution in Ethiopia.
[23] I have considered state protection and internal flight alternative; I find that the primary agent of persecution is the state, and it would be objectively unreasonable for you to seek their protection based on your profile. I find the presumption of adequate state protection has been rebutted on a balance of probabilities.
[24] With respect to internal flight alternative, I have considered whether as a Tigrayan you have a viable internal flight alternative in Ethiopia. Again, I have considered that the primary agent of persecution is the state, and the objective evidence which indicates that persons with your profile are targeted (inaudible) across Ethiopia. So, despite on the balance of probabilities therefore that you face a serious possibility of persecution throughout the country based on your ethnicity and that you do not have a viable internal flight alternative in Ethiopia.
[25] Based on the totality of the evidence, I conclude that you are a convention refugee pursuant to section 96 of the Act, and I accept your claim. I wish you all the best in Canada.
——— REASONS CONCLUDED ———