Date: 20050203
Docket: IMM-4201-04
Citation: 2005 FC 170
Ottawa, Ontario, this 3rd day of February, 2005
Present: THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE HARRINGTON
BETWEEN:
BASHIR, MOHAMMED ARSHAD
Applicant
and
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP
AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER AND ORDER
[1] Mr. Bashir, a citizen of Pakistan, seeks status as a United Nations Convention refugee by reason of a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of political opinion. He says he was deeply involved in political organization on behalf of the Pakistan People's Party. This led to attacks by political opponents and arrest or torture by the police or other agents of the state. It all culminated when goons attacked his house, the police would not come to his aid and through his brother he came to learn that false criminal charges were laid against him. He immediately fled to Canada.
[2] His claim was rejected as the Panel member found he was not credible.
[3] Findings as to credibility are findings of fact and are not to be disturbed unless patently unreasonable (Aguebor v. Canada (Minister of Employment and Immigration), [1993] 160 N.R. 315). Nevertheless, the Immigration and Refugee Board cannot simply say it disbelieves a person. Reasons must be given and they have to stand up to some scrutiny (R.K.L. v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), 2003 FCT 116, [2003] F.C.J. No. 162 (QL), Martineau J.).
[4] Mr. Bashir's counsel has, with skill and precision, zeroed in on separate findings and submits that they are so unreasonable that the decision cannot stand. Although a microscopic examination does cause one to wonder if one would have reached the same conclusion, a review of the evidence as a whole leads me to the conclusion that the decision reached was not unreasonable, and so the application is dismissed.
[5] I need only focus on two issues, Mr. Bashir's travel documents and the criminal charges laid against him in Pakistan.
[6] Travel documents are important because travel is verifiable. The essence of the refugee claim itself may not be so. The story which supports a well-founded fear of persecution may not be the claimant's story at all, but one stolen from someone else. If one lies on how one got to Canada, the whole claim becomes very suspect.
[7] On arrival at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Mr. Bashir did not have a passport or plane ticket. He said he gave them to his smuggling agent who had also been on the plane. He did not seem to anticipate that he might be questioned about his boarding pass. The Panel member said he had three different stories. In fact, he may have had more. The questioning did get a little convoluted at times, because of the vagueness of the answers, which led Mr. Bashir to say he was weak-minded. At one point, he said he did not have it because it was taken away from him by the authorities at Heathrow. However, he settled on the fact that it was taken away from him by the authorities at Pearson. He never really explained how he got on the plane in the first place. He seems to have been saying that the boarding pass was given to him by the smuggling agent who was sitting in the front of the plane. That, of course, is impossible.
[8] As to the criminal charges, he said in his Personal Information Form that he was well aware of their nature before he left Pakistan. However, when interviewed in Canada he said he did not know why the authorities were looking for him. His explanation, again, "weak memory, I cannot properly remember things".
[9] There is no reason to disturb the Panel's decision which stated it "gives no credence to the claimant".
ORDER
The application for judicial review of the decision of the Refugee Protection Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board, file number MA2-09529, made 8 April 2004, is dismissed.
"Sean Harrington"
Judge
FEDERAL COURT
NAMES OF COUNSEL AND SOLICITORS OF RECORD
DOCKET: IMM-4201-04
STYLE OF CAUSE: BASHIR, MOHAMMED ARSHAD
AND
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP
AND IMMIGRATION
PLACE OF HEARING: MONTREAL, QUEBEC
DATE OF HEARING: JANUARY 24, 2005
REASONS FOR ORDER
AND ORDER : HARRINGTON J.
DATED: FEBRUARY 3, 2005
APPEARANCES:
Styliani Markaki FOR APPLICANT
Lynne Lazaroff FOR RESPONDENT
SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
Styliani Markaki
Montreal, Quebec FOR APPLICANT
John H. Sims, Q.C.
Deputy Attorney General of Canada FOR RESPONDENT