Date: 20050224
Docket: IMM-2918-04
OTTAWA, Ontario, February 24th, 2005
Present: THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE KELEN
BETWEEN:
BEATRIZ OLARTE TORRES
YESSICA RUBI VARGAS OLARTE
Applicants
and
MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER AND ORDER
[1] This is an application for judicial review of the decision of the Refugee Protection Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board (Board) dated March 15, 2004 in which the applicants were found not to be Convention refugees or persons in need of protection.
FACTS
[2] The principal applicant, Beatriz Olarte Torres, claims refugee protection for herself and her minor daughter, Yessica Rubi Vargas Olarte. They are Mexican citizens.
[3] While in the state of Morales, Mexico, the applicant was sexually assaulted on the side of the highway by policemen. She reported the incident but the police disbelieved her and refused to file a report. After receiving threats, she fled to the United States in 1997 where she worked and resided illegally. Her daughter, Yessica, joined her in 1998. They came to Canada in July 2001 to claim refugee status. The applicant was pregnant at the time and gave birth to a second child in September 2001 in Canada.
THE DECISION
[4] By decision dated March 14, 2004, the Board rejected the applicants' claim for protection. The Board was satisfied that the applicant had established her identity as well as that of her daughter. It determined she was credible, although it found a few inconsistencies in her evidence, such as whether the perpetrators called her grandmother's house and whether she was assaulted by federal police officers or by state police officers.
[5] The internal flight alternative and state protection available to the applicant were determinative elements in the Board's decision. The Board held that protection was available to the applicant across Mexico and that she could have relocated to another part of the country. In light of the fact that she is now a woman in her thirties, a mother of two children, a person who has travelled across three countries and has acquired considerable maturity and experience in caring for herself and her family, the Board concluded that the applicant is capable of finding employment and establishing a life in Mexico away from her perpetrators.
ISSUE
[6] Did the Board err in determining that an internal flight alternative and state protection were available to the applicant?
ANALYSIS
[7] The notion of internal flight alternative (IFA) is inherent to the Convention refugee definition. Since a refugee must be a refugee from a country, not from a subdivision or region of a country, a claimant cannot be a Convention refugee if there is an IFA : Rasaratnam v. Canada (Minister of Employment and Immigration), [1992] 1 F.C. 706.
[8] While the Board did not specify the evidence on which it relied in finding the applicant had an IFA in Mexico, the Court is cognizant of the Board's public documents which establish that Mexico is a large country with many diverse regions where a person can have an IFA. Moreover, Mexico is a democratic country which does provide adequate state protection to its citizens within the meaning of the Refugee Convention. For these reasons, the finding of the Board that the applicant had an IFA is not an unreasonable finding of fact. Accordingly, this application for judicial review must be dismissed.
[9] Neither counsel recommended certification of a question. No question will be certified.
ORDER
THIS COURT ORDERS THAT:
This application for judicial review is dismissed.
"Michael A. Kelen" _______________________________
JUDGE
FEDERAL COURT
Names of Counsel and Solicitors of Record
DOCKET: IMM-2918-04
STYLE OF CAUSE: BEATRIZ OLARTE TORRES ET AL
Applicant
and
MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
PLACE OF HEARING: TORONTO, ONTARIO
DATE OF HEARING: FEBRUARY 17, 2005
REASONS FOR ORDER
AND ORDER BY: THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE KELEN
APPEARANCES BY:
Mr. Howard Eisenberg
For the Applicant
Ms. Margherita Braccio
For the Respondent
SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
Howard Eisenberg
Barrister & Solicitor
For the Applicant
John H. Sims, Q.C.
Deputy Attorney General of Canada
For the Respondent
FEDERAL COURT
Date: 20050224
Docket: IMM-2918-04
BETWEEN:
BEATRIZ OLARTE TORRES ET AL
Applicant
and
MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER
AND ORDER