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2019 RLLR 140

Citation: 2019 RLLR 140
Tribunal: Refugee Protection Division
Date of Decision: July 23, 2019
Panel: Me Dominique Setton
Counsel for the Claimant(s): El-Farouk Khaki
Country: Rwanda
RPD Number: TB8-31167
ATIP Number: A-2021-00256
ATIP Pages: 0000124-000127


REASONS FOR DECISION

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 Rwanda, 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 the Chairperson’s Guidelines on Proceedings Before the IRB Involving Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression.

ALLEGATIONS

[4]       You allege the following: you claim to have a well-founded fear of persecution due to your sexual orientation as a homosexual man in Rwanda. You allege that you first felt that you were different at the age of 14 while in attendance at a seminary school. You confided in a friend called [XXX], who eventually lead you to connect with a group that tried to assist SOGIE people in Rwanda called Ubumwe. This lead you to meeting [XXX], also a student, with you and you became friends and lovers. You were discovered at school in the dormitory having sex by the headmaster, while the other students were class. This lead to a two week suspension, and your parents were notified. You returned long enough to write your exams to graduate, and then you returned to your hometown, but in a separate house away from the family. You continued to see [XXX]. Your father discovered this and arranged to have you arrested by police, where you were held for a week, and treated with severity. Your elder brother found a way to get you out of jail, and he made arrangements to have you sent to your grandmother’s where you stayed, in hiding. Your grandmother was ill one day and asked you to go to the store where you were spotted by people who knew you, and you fled never returning. Your bother found a safe place for you to stay and helped to make arrangements for you to leave Rwanda.

DETERMINATION

[5]       I find that you are a Convention refugee as you have established a serious possibility of persecution on account of your member of a particular social group.

ANALYSIS

[6]       The determinative issues in this case are credibility, state protection, and internal flight alternative.

Identity

[7]       I find that your identity as a national of Rwanda is established by your testimony and the supporting documentation filed including your passport, national identity card, and a letter from Black Cap Aids Prevention, and the Ubumwe from Rwanda, both of which identify you as a gay man.

Credibility

[8]       I find you to be a credible witness and therefore believe what you alleged in support of your claim. You provided educational documents and photos of you and your lover [XXX] in Rwanda, and you continue to be active in LGBTQ activities in Toronto.

[9]       You testified in a straightforward manner and, there were no relevant inconsistencies in your testimony or contradictions between your testimony and the other evidence before me.

[10]     The panel also adverts to the principle from Maldonado v. M.E.I [1980] 2.F.C. 302, that when a claimant swears to the truth of certain allegations, this creates a presumption that those allegations are true unless there be reason to doubt their truthfulness.

State protection

[11]     I find that it would be objectively unreasonable for you to seek the protection of the state in light of your particular circumstances. The objective documents in the National Documentation Package (NDP) for Rwanda, item at 6.1, The Rights of LGBTI People in Rwanda and item 6.2, Situation of sexual minorities, confirm that although homosexuality is not illegal, SOGIE persons are stigmatised and marginalised. The documents report that they are often jailed due to prevailing religious and cultural beliefs. Our research also confirms that in Rwanda, LGBT persons face arbitrary arrest and institutional discrimination, that human rights violations are underreported for fear of further persecution or stigmatisation.

Internal flight alternative

[12]     I have considered whether a viable internal flight alternative exists for you. On the evidence before me, I find that there is a serious possibility of persecution throughout Rwanda. The country is very small, and the societal beliefs are the same everywhere. The claimant would not be able to continue to express himself freely as homosexual man in Rwanda.

CONCLUSION

[13]     Based on the analysis above, I conclude that you are a Convention refugee. Accordingly, I accept your claim.

(signed)           Me Dominique Setton

July 23, 2019