2024 RLLR 148
Citation: 2024 RLLR 148
Tribunal: Refugee Protection Division
Date of Decision: February 9, 2024
Panel: Lucy Pridgeon
Counsel for the Claimant(s): N/A
Country: Iran
RPD Number: VC3-11622
Associated RPD Number(s): N/A
ATIP Number: A-2025-00724
ATIP Pages: N/A
DECISION
[1] MEMBER: This is a decision of the Refugee Protection Division for the claimant, XXXX XXXX, on February 9th, 2024. You are claiming refugee protection pursuant to section 96 and 97(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
ALLEGATIONS
[2] The specifics of your claim are set out in your Basis of Claim form.
[3] You allege that you are a citizen of Iran, and that you will face persecution from the Iranian state if you return, due to your conversion from Islam to Christianity.
DETERMINATION
[4] After considering the evidence, I find you are a refugee pursuant to section 96 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act as you face a serious possibility of persecution, should you return to Iran due to your religious conversion.
[5] To satisfy the definition of a Convention refugee found in this section, a claimant must establish that they face a serious possibility of persecution due to their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion in the country of their nationality. I find your allegations have a nexus to the Convention ground of religion. Therefore, I assessed your claim under section 96 of the Act.
[6] Your personal identity and Iranian citizenship are established on a balance of probabilities by your Iranian passport.
[7] I find you to be a credible witness. Your testimony was consistent, detailed, straightforward, and spontaneous. There were no contradictions, inconsistencies, or omissions. I find on a balance of probabilities that you are a genuine Christian convert. My reasons are as follows.
[8] In making my determination, I have considered all the available evidence, including the Basis of Claim form, your testimony, and your baptismal certificate.
[9] You testified that you were designated as Muslim by the Iranian government because your parents are Muslim, but that you do not believe in Islam.
[10] You testified you did not like being forced to pray in school.
[11] You testified he became interested in when XXXX and classmates in Iran told you, Christians do not force you to pray.
[12] You testified you arrived in Canada in 2022.
[13] You testified once you were familiar with life in Kamloops. You started attending XXXX XXXX XXXX, a Baptist church near your house
[14] You provided a detailed description of a typical Sunday service.
[15] You testified that you attended Bible study with your pastor, XXXX XXXX, frequently before you were baptized.
[16] You gave a detailed account of your baptism and how you felt your soul was cleansed by it.
[17] You also demonstrated a good understanding of the teachings of Jesus Christ and a knowledge of the Bible in your testimony.
[18] You provided a baptismal certificate dated XXXX XXXX, 2024, from XXXX XXXX. I find no reason to doubt the authenticity of this document, and I assign it significant weight in substantiating your allegation that you converted to Christianity.
[19] You testified that you are afraid to return to Iran because you fear the government will harm or even execute you because of your conversion.
[20] You testified there are written rules against conversion, and the government makes it clear there are severe consequences if you do.
[21] After considering your testimony and the documentary evidence, I find that on a balance of probabilities, you converted from Islam to Christianity. I find you fear the government of Iran will punish you for converting if you return. Therefore, I find you have established that you have a subjective fear of harm if you return.
Well-Founded Fear of Persecution
[22] I find your subjective fear is corroborated by the objective evidence.
[23] Tab 1.8 of the National Documentation Package states that apostasy, which is the conversion by a Muslim to another religion, is a crime punishable by death in Iran.
[24] Tab 12.1 reports that the law prohibits Muslims from changing or renouncing their religious beliefs. They only recognize conversion from another religion to Islam.
[25] Tab 12.15 notes that it is not possible for a person to change their religious affiliation on personal documentation but although some of these reports note the regime does not execute Christian converts routinely at the present time, apostasy remains a capital offence.
[26] At Tab 12.2, it reports that Christians, particularly previously Muslim Christian converts, faced imprisonment under the penal code for insulting Islam and conducting deviant activities that contradict or interfere with the sacred laws of Islam.
[27] The objective evidence consistently reports a lack of religious freedom throughout Iran. The objective evidence corroborates the testimony regarding your fear that you may be executed or mistreated by the Iranian government because you converted from Islam to Christianity. I find that as a person who converted from Islam to Christianity, the Iranian state would regard you as an apostate. As an apostate, I find you would be subject to severe punishment, including a possible death sentence. Therefore, I find you face a serious possibility of persecution from the state if you were to return to Iran.
State Protection
[28] There is a presumption of state protection unless the country is in a state of complete breakdown. This can be rebutted with clear and convincing evidence that protection would not be reasonably forthcoming.
[29] In this case, the agent of persecution is a state and so therefore, I find that there is no state protection available to you because you risk persecution from the state itself.
Internal Flight Alternative
[30] People are obliged to try to seek a safe place within their state before leaving to seek refuge elsewhere. However, since the state is your agent of persecution and it is in control of its entire territory, I find that there is no internal flight alternative available to you.
[31] So, in conclusion, based on the totality of the evidence of my analysis above, I find you to be a Convention refugee and I accept your claim.
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