Citation: 2019 RLLR 112
Tribunal: Refugee Protection Division
Date of Decision: November 21, 2019
Panel: M. Hayes
Counsel for the Claimant(s): Sarah Jamali
Country: Saudi Arabia
RPD Number: TB9-13037
ATIP Number: A-2020-01459
ATIP Pages: 000197-000200
REASONS FOR DECISION
On November 21, 2019, the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) heard the claim of [XXX] who claims refugee protection under sections 96 and 97 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). On that same day, the panel rendered its oral positive decision and Reasons for decision. This is the written version of the oral decision and Reasons that have been edited for clarity, spelling, grammar and syntax with added references to the documentary evidence and relevant case law where appropriate.
INTRODUCTION
[1] I have considered your testimony, and the other evidence in the case, and I am ready to render my decision orally.
[2] These are the reasons for the decision in the claim of [XXX], who claims to be a citizen of Saudi Arabia, and is claiming refugee protection pursuant to sections 96 and 97(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
[3] In rendering my reasons, I have considered and applied the Chairperson’s Guidelines on Women Refugee Claimants Fearing Gender-Related Persecution.
ALLEGATIONS
[4] The allegations of your claim are fully set out in your Basis of Claim (BOC) form. Very briefly, you have suffered extreme physical and emotional abuse from your mother all your life. As well, your brothers and your ex-husband were very emotionally and physically abusive towards you, and your ex-husband is abusive towards your four minor children. You sought police protection, but protection was not forthcoming. You fear returning to Saudi Arabia where you will continue to face violent mistreatment, death threats, and emotional abuse at the hands of the agents of persecution. You were able to escape from Saudi Arabia to come to Canada to make a refugee claim. Despite efforts to date to bring your four minor children to Canada, you were forced to leave them in Saudi Arabia in the circumstances.
DETERMINATION
[5] I find that you are a Convention refugee as you have established a serious possibility of persecution should you return to Saudi Arabia based on the grounds in section 96.
ANALYSIS
Identity
[6] I find that your identity as a national of Saudi Arabia is established by a certified true copy of your Saudi passport, as well as by your testimony.
Nexus
[7] I find that you have established a nexus to section 96 by reason of your membership in a particular social group, that being your gender.
Credibility
[8] I find that you were a credible witness and I accept the allegations in your claim. You testified in a straightforward manner and there were no inconsistencies between your testimony and the documents before me, such as the Port of Entry notes and your 151 paragraph BOC narrative and amendments that detail the lifetime of domestic torture and abuse you have suffered as a woman in Saudi Arabia. I was concerned that you did not take more steps to obtain additional documentary evidence such as your children’s Birth Certificates. However, I accept your explanation that trying to obtain those documents would likely cause problems with your children’s father. You did submit a recent medical report that corroborates the burn scars all over your body are consistent with the injuries inflicted on you by your mother when you were a child, as you describe in your BOC; a letter from the Refugee Law Office that corroborates that you obtained legal advice earlier this year regarding the legal risks of re-availing to Turkey to bring your children back to Canada; the custody order obtained by your ex-husband, and the custody order obtained by you, which describes the harm your children suffered at the hands of your ex-husband. I have no reasons to doubt the authenticity of the evidence you submitted and find that the evidence supports and corroborates the allegations in your claim.
Objective basis of future risk
[9] Based on the credibility of your allegations, and the objective country condition evidence, I find that you have established a well founded fear and a future risk that you will be subjected to mistreatment and violence at the hands of the agents of persecution, in a country where women have limited rights, and there are reports of judges and police returning women to their abusers.1 The fact that you face these risks is corroborated by the documents submitted by you in Exhibit 5, as well as numerous documents in the National Documentation Package (NDP) for Saudi Arabia (March 29, 2019), including Items 2.1, 2.2, 2.4, and 5.6.
Nature of the harm
[10] The harm you have faced, and would face upon return to Saudi Arabia, clearly amounts to persecution.
State protection
[11] I accept that you sought state protection, but protection was not forthcoming. Your experience is consistent with the country conditions described in the above cited documentary evidence. As such, I find that you have rebutted the presumption of state protection, as there is clear and convincing evidence before me that the state is unable to provide you with adequate protection.
Internal flight alternative (IFA)
[12] With regards to an IFA, I find that there is a serious possibility of persecution throughout Saudi Arabia, as one of the agents of persecution is the father of your children, and this close family connection means that he could likely locate you anywhere in the country.
CONCLUSION
[13] Based on this analysis I conclude that you are a Convention refugee and accept your claim.
1 Exhibit 3, National Documentation Package (NDP) for Saudi Arabia (March 29, 2019), Item 2.1.