2024 RLLR 44

Citation: 2024 RLLR 44
Tribunal: Refugee Protection Division
Date of Decision: June 11, 2024
Panel: Carolyn Adolph
Counsel for the Claimant(s): Ian Robert Joseph Wong
Country: Pakistan
RPD Number: TC3-12170
Associated RPD Number(s): N/A
ATIP Number: A-2025-00128
ATIP Pages: N/A

DECISION

[1] MEMBER: We are on the record and this is the decision for TC3-12170. XXXX XXXX is a citizen of Pakistan and he is claiming refugee protection pursuant to sections 96 and 97(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

[2] Now, his allegations are set out in the Basis of Claims form and narrative, with two (2) amendments at Exhibits 6 and 8. In summary, he is making his claim on the basis of his religion as a Shia Muslim. He fears honour killing by his wife’s Sunni Muslim family. And he says the family has recruited both the police and the militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. He fears arrest (inaudible) honour killing because of his marriage without her family’s permission. Now, without the — sorry, without the family’s permission.

DETERMINATION

[3] Having considered the totality of the evidence, the Panel finds the claimant to be a Convention refugee pursuant to section 96. He faces a serious possibility of persecution on the balance of probabilities on the basis of his religion.

ANALYSIS

Identity

[4] I am satisfied as to the personal and national identity of the claimant. I rely upon the certified true copy of his Islamic Republic of Pakistan passport found at Exhibits 1 and 4.

Nexus

[5] I find there is a link between the claimant’s fear of return and the Convention grounds, religion. The claim is assessed under section 96.

Credibility

[6] When a claimant swears that certain facts are true, there is a presumption that they are true unless there is valid reason for doubt. And in this case I found no such reasons. Claimant’s testimony was clear, direct, spontaneous, and unembellished. His testimony was internally consistent as well as consistent with the Basis of Claim narrative and the other documentary evidence on file. His testimony is presumed to be true.[7] The claimant established himself as a Shia Muslim with his credible testimony and documentary evidence at Exhibit 7. On a balance of probabilities he is a Shia Muslim, as he alleges. And he says he married a Sunni woman that he met at school.

[8] The claimant’s wife provided an affidavit at Exhibit 7 saying she is from a conservative Sunni family. She writes that she eloped with him and then married him a few days later instead of accepting the arranged marriage her family was organizing. I find the claimant established he is in a love marriage with a Sunni woman on a balance of probabilities.

[9] The claimant testified that he knew it could be dangerous for Shia men to marry a Sunni woman, but that he did not know how dangerous it would be. A few days after the wedding, in XXXX 2022, he testified his father-in-law came to the family home along with goons from Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and attacked the claimant’s father while asking where the claimant’s wife was.

[10] I asked the claimant how his father knew that the man assisting the father-in-law were from Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, and he responded that his father recognized them, had long known them to be members of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. I accept this testimony.

[11] And the claimant testified that once he understood that Lashkar-e-Jhangvi was now helping the father-in-law, he used the US visa that he already had in his possession to flee the country. I accept this testimony. I find it to be corroborated by the documentary evidence on file. On a balance of probabilities the father-in-law recruited Sunni militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi to assist him in targeting the claimant.

[12] The claimant testified and his father wrote that soon after the claimant fled, a First Information Report was issued against the claimant for abduction, by the father-in-law. A copy of this document, which is the official start of a criminal investigation in Pakistan, is at Exhibit 7. I accept the documentary evidence and I find on a balance of probabilities the claimant is wanted for the abduction of his wife.

[13] The Panel also finds that since the wife states she married freely, on a balance of probabilities this is a false charge. Now, the claimant testified that he would be arrested upon return because of the FIR and that upon his arrest, his father-in-law will target and kill him with the assistance of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. I accept this testimony and I find that the claimant has established that the First Information Report assists the father-in-law in targeting him.

[14] Now the claimant’s wife writes in her affidavit at Exhibit 7 that she has lived with the claimant’s mother and father since the elopement. The claimant testified at the start of the hearing that his parents and wife have moved four (4) times. All four (4) of them first ran to the claimant’s cousin in Lahore, but members of the family led by the father-in-law tracked them there. Then they ran to another relative in Multan, and the claimant left for the US from there.

[15] The claimant’s — pardon me, the family members then moved to Sargodha in XXXX 2023, remaining there until XXXX of this year when the claimant’s father-in-law appeared at that hiding place. Since then, the family has moved to yet another city. I find the claimant established that the father-in-law continues to recruit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and also the police to assist him in targeting the claimant. And he has established his forward-facing fear of return.

Delay in Claiming

[16] The claimant testified he remained in the United States for several months before deciding to make a refugee claim in Canada. He explained that he learned that a refugee claim in the United States can take many years and that there could be significant obstacles to success. I accept this testimony and I note the claimant has not returned to Pakistan since his departure in XXXX 2022. He has established his subjective fear of return.

Well-Founded Fear of Persecution

[17] I found the objective evidence to corroborate the claimant’s fear of return in the National Documentation Package. The claimant established that he is a Shia Muslim. According to Tab 12.5, many Sunnis, particularly conservative Sunnis such as his father-in-law, consider Shiites to be infidels, disbelievers, and apostates.

[18] Hardline religious leaders and scholars have viewed marginalizing Shiites as integral to Sunni identity. This document corroborates the risk to Shiites, in particular from an unauthorized marriage to Sunni, and I accept this objective evidence. I find it establishes the unacceptability of the claimant’s marriage in the eyes of his wife’s Sunni family and the risk to the claimant because he pursued this marriage.

[19] The Panel accepts the objective evidence, finds it corroborates the claimants fear of return because of his unauthorized marriage, and he has a well-founded fear of persecution.

State Protection

[20] There is a presumption that a state is capable of protecting its own citizens unless it is in breakdown. Pakistan is not in breakdown, but there is ample objective evidence concerning the inadequacy of state protection in Pakistan.

[21] This is laid out at Tabs 10.1 and 10.4. These tabs specifically state that there is a lack of state protection for citizens generally. But in this case, the claimant established that he is targeted with a First Information Report, which is the beginning of a criminal investigation. It sets the legal wheels in motion.[22] I find the fact that he is accused of a crime will greatly diminish his ability to obtain protection from police, or from any authority of the state. On a balance of probabilities adequate state protection is not available to him.

Internal Flight Alternative

[23] To be accepted, the claimant must establish that there is no viable internal flight alternative for him anywhere in Pakistan. But — and I find that I cannot identify a viable IFA location for him.

[24] Tab 9.1 of the National Documentation Package states that Punjab province has digitized its First Information Reports, and that the FIR Register of Pakistan is integrated with NADRA, which is the identity database and other criminal — as well as criminal databases, including the Criminal Record Management System, the CRMS. On a balance of probabilities the claimant’s FIR will surface upon his return.

[25] Furthermore, according to Tab 7.21, the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi forms a loose network with other militant groups where the elements work together. There is evidence of interoperability where members move between organizations. I find that the objective evidence establishes that this interoperability gives Lashkar-e-Jhangvi the ability to use its networks to target the claimant anywhere and everywhere in Pakistan.

[26] And an internal flight alternative is not viable if it forces to claim it into a life of hiding to try to avoid detection. Therefore, I find the test fails and there is no viable internal flight alternative for the claimant. The claimant faces a serious possibility of persecution everywhere in Pakistan.

[27] So in conclusion, based on the totality of the evidence, I find the claimant to be a Convention refugee on the grounds of his religion. On a balance of probabilities he faces a serious possibility of persecution, including a risk of death in Pakistan, and his claim is accepted.

——— REASONS CONCLUDED ———