2023 RLLR 2
Citation: 2023 RLLR 2
Tribunal: Refugee Protection Division
Date of Decision: September 20, 2023
Panel: Tina Androutsos
Counsel for the Claimant(s): Adela Crossley
Country: Mexico
RPD Number: TC0-03751
Associated RPD Number(s): N/A
ATIP Number: A-2023-01721
ATIP Pages: N/A
DECISION
[1] MEMBER: These are the reasons for the decision in the claim of XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX.
[2] INTERPRETER: And you want interpretation, right, madam?
[3] MEMBER: Yes, please. File number TC0-03751. Who claims to be a citizen of Mexico, and is claiming refugee protection pursuant to sections 96 and 97(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
[4] In rendering my decisions, I have considered the Chairperson’s Guideline 9, Proceedings Before the Immigration and Refugee Board Involving Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics.
[5] The details of your allegations are fully set out in your Basis of Claim form. You identify as a transwoman. In Mexico, you face stigmatization, discrimination, social prejudice, physical and verbal abuse owing to your sexual identity.
[6] I find that you are a Convention refugee (inaudible) to section 96 of the Immigration and Refugee (inaudible) Act, as there is a serious possibility of persecution here should you return to Mexico on account of your membership in a particular social group, mainly as a trans woman.
[7] I find you are a citizen of Mexico in that your identity as a national of Mexico is established by the documents provided, including a certified true copy of your Mexican passport.
[8] I find you to be a credible witness, and therefore, I believe what you have alleged in support of your claim. You have testified in a straightforward manner, and there were no relevant inconsistencies in your testimony or contradictions between your testimony and other evidence before me.
[9] You and your Counsel have provided a plethora of supporting material, including a XXXX report, photographs and supporting letters from family and friends, the LGBTQ community and more, all of which corroborate your allegations.
[10] The objective evidence indicates that while there has been legislative improvement, there continues to be harassment and discrimination of sexual minorities by society in Mexico. Whether you have submitted news articles and reports in support of your claim —
[11] INTERPRETER: Given the fact that he did not —
[12] MEMBER: Yes.
[13] INTERPRETER: — supply?
[14] MEMBER: You have submitted news articles and reports in support of your claim, which also highlights hate crimes, murders, mistreatment of sexual minorities in Mexico, including by the police.
[15] The SOGIESC guideline states that individuals with diverse SOGIESC —
[16] INTERPRETER: What guideline? Sorry.
[17] MEMBER: SOGIESC. S-O-G-I-E-S-C. May also face instances of harassment or discrimination —
[18] INTERPRETER: Sorry. SOGIESC guidelines? What? Sorry.
[19] MEMBER: I will repeat that for you. The SOGIESC guideline states that individuals with diverse SOGIESC may also face instances of harassment or discrimination that cumulatively amount to persecution. The SOGIESC guideline goes further to provide a non-exhaustive list of factors to consider regarding cumulative discrimination amounting to persecution, including restrictions on employment, social services, health care, and harassment by police.
[20] I find that you have established that you would face cumulative discrimination amounting to persecution if you return to Mexico, owing to being an individual who identifies as a transwoman.
[21] The objective evidence indicates significant human rights issues, including reports of unlawful or arbitrary killings by police.
[22] INTERPRETER: Sorry, madam, but I am not reading like you are. Sorry. And I am not even a simultaneous interpreter. I am just a consecutive interpreter, so —
[23] MEMBER: I will read shorter parts for you. Will that work?
[24] INTERPRETER: Sometimes it loses sense if you read —
[25] MEMBER: Right. So, I will try and — okay.
[26] The objective evidence indicates significant human rights issues, including reports of unlawful or arbitrary killings by police, military, and other government officials, forced disappearances by government agents, torture or degrading treatment by security forces, arbitrary arrest and detention, insufficient investigation of and accountability for gender-based violence, including crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex persons.
[27] INTERPRETER: Could you repeat all that sentence again, if you —
[28] MEMBER: You got it.
[29] INTERPRETER: I have to take notes.
[30] MEMBER: No problem. Crimes involving violence or threats targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or intersex persons. Impunity and extremely low rates of prosecution remains a problem for all crimes, including human rights abuses. This comes from the National Documentation Package for Mexico, July 31st, 2023 version, Item 2.1.
[31] Based on the totality of the evidence, I find that although there is some mixed evidence and some evidence of efforts by the state to make improvements, there continues to be an absence of operationally effective state protection available to sexual minorities such as yourself.
[32] Further, given the absence of operationally effective state protection and the presence of homophobia and violence against sexual minorities in Mexico, including by the police, I find that you would face a serious possibility of persecution throughout Mexico, and it is not objectively reasonable in all circumstances, including your particular circumstances, to relocate. Accordingly, I find that there is no viable internal flight alternative available to you.
[33] I conclude that you are a Convention refugee pursuant to section 96 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, and accordingly, I accept your claim.
——— REASONS CONCLUDED ———