Date: 20030305
Docket: IMM-1192-02
Neutral citation: 2003 FCT 275
Toronto, Ontario, Wednesday, the 5th day of March, 2003
Present: The Honourable Mr. Justice Campbell
BETWEEN:
LEONID ANTONOV
and
ANDREY ANTONOV
Applicants
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER AND ORDER
[1] This is an application for judicial review of the decision of a Post-Determination Claims Officer ("PDCO"), dated February 7, 2002, wherein the PDCO determined that the Applicants did not qualify as Post-Determination Refugee Claimants in Canada ("PDRCC").
[2] The Applicants are twin brothers and are citizens of Tajikistan. They claim a well-founded fear of persecution on the basis of their ethnicity as Ethnic Russians and religion as Orthodox Christians. The Applicants claim to have been subject to beating and harassment by Tajik Muslims, and to receiving demands that they convert to Islam.
[3] The Applicants hold the prospective fear that, if returned, they will be subject to assault, kidnapping, murder or other forms of ill-treatment at the hands of the Tajik Muslim-led opposition forces. The Applicants claim that the police are both unwilling and unable to protect the Russian community in Tajikistan from these forces.
[4] The Applicants' Refugee claims were denied on December 31, 1998. Their subsequent application for leave and judicial review was denied on May 3, 1999. The PDRCC determined that the Applicants would not be at risk due to their Russian heritage or Orthodox Christian religion. The PDCO found the following:
- the applicants have not provided sufficient objective evidence to indicate that they would not be provided with adequate protection by the authorities if required - based upon documentary evidence, individuals who are local officials, businessmen, and professional figures of both Russian and Tajik nationality are targeted for a variety of political, economic and ethnic reasons.
- I do not find that the applicants who are non-political and non-high profile, would be targeted solely due to their ethnicity or religion, even though they may feel insecure in a society that is largely not ethnic Russian or Slav.
- after a careful analysis of all the evidence before me, it is my finding that the applicants would not be at risk to their lives of extreme sanctions or inhumane treatment for any reason if returned to Tajikistan. (Applicant's Application Record, p. 8-9) [Emphasis added]
[5] After a careful scrutiny of the tribunal record, I find that the "profile" conclusion reached by the PDCO is unsupported by the evidence. The evidence is that persons in the profiles mentioned in the decision under review are persecuted for their ethnicity; however, there is also ample evidence that ethnic Russians not in the categories specified are also persecuted.
[6] Since the "profile" conclusion is key to the decision under review, and since I find it is unsupported by the evidence considered in its totality, I find that the risk decision is patently unreasonable.
ORDER
Accordingly, the PDCO is set aside and the matter is referred back for redetermination under section 119 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
"Douglas R. Campbell"
J.F.C.C.
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
TRIAL DIVISION
Names of Counsel and Solicitors of Record
DOCKET: IMM-1192-02
STYLE OF CAUSE: LEONID ANTONOV and ANDREY ANTONOV
Applicants
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND
IMMIGRATION
Respondent
PLACE OF HEARING: TORONTO, ONTARIO
DATE OF HEARING: TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2003
REASONS FOR ORDER
AND ORDER BY: CAMPBELL, J.
DATED: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 2003
APPEARANCES BY: Mr. Arthur Yallen
For the Applicants
Ms. Kareena R. Wilding
For the Respondent
SOLICITORS OF RECORD: Yallen & Associates
204 St. George Street, 3rd Floor
Toronto, Ontario
M5R 2N5
For the Applicants
Morris Rosenberg
Deputy Attorney General of Canada
For the Respondent
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Date: 20030305
Docket: IMM-1192-02
BETWEEN:
LEONID ANTONOV and
ANDREY ANTONOV
Applicants
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER
AND ORDER