Date: 19990624
Docket: IMM-2480-98
BETWEEN:
THUSHYANTHAN THIYAGARAJAH
Applicant
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER
McKEOWN J.
[1] The applicant, a Tamil citizen of Sri Lanka, seeks judicial review of the decision of the Immigration and Refugee Board Convention Refugee Determination Division ("the Board") dated April 23, 1998, wherein it held that he is not a Convention refugee.
[2] The issue is: in a case where a general credibility finding is made against the applicant, should the Board have accepted the identity of the applicant and looked at the documentary evidence with respect to young Tamil males from the north of Sri Lanka, when he had not expressed his fear of persecution in such terms in his claim.
[3] The onus is on the applicant to make out the elements of his claim. The applicant must show he has a well-founded fear of persecution. The Board reviewed the events giving rise to his fear as set out in his claim and found them not to be credible. The Board reviewed numerous inconsistencies, contradictions, and implausibilities in the applicant's evidence. Furthermore, the Board found the claimant's demeanour, while testifying, raised doubts about his general credibility, at page 2 of the reasons. The Board also raised questions about his identity document at pages 5 and 6 of the reasons. The Board concluded at page 6:
| For all the foregoing reasons the panel concluded that the claimant is not a credible witness to his claim. |
[4] The Board ties in the credibility finding directly to his claim. This conclusion was based on a number of inconsistencies, internal contradictions and implausibilities found in the applicant's evidence which concerns central aspects to this claim. The Board's conclusion that the applicant was not a credible witness was not an error as it gave reasons for doing so in clear and unmistakeable terms: Hilo v. Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, (1991) 15 Imm. L.R. (2d) 199, (F.C.A.).
[5] The Board is not required to review the documentary evidence with respect to a general fear of persecution as a general member of a group in a country when the Board has made a general finding of credibility against an applicant and the applicant has not raised his fear in terms of a general group. The only reference to a general fear came in his testimony on an IFA in Colombo where he stated he would be targeted as a young Tamil male. An IFA in Colombo is not relevant in the case before me, since he was found to have no fear of persecution in his own region of the country.
[6] The application for judicial review is dismissed. This decision is based on the facts before me, and therefore no question is certified.
"W.P. McKeown"
Judge
TORONTO, ONTARIO
June 24, 1999
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Names of Counsel and Solicitors of Record
COURT NO: IMM-2480-98
| STYLE OF CAUSE: THUSHYANTHAN THIYAGARAJAH |
| - and - |
| THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION |
DATE OF HEARING: THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 1999
PLACE OF HEARING: TORONTO, ONTARIO
REASONS FOR ORDER BY: McKEOWN J.
DATED: THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 1999
APPEARANCES: Mr. Toni Schweitzer
For the Applicant
Ms. Marissa Bielski
For the Respondent
SOLICITORS OF RECORD: Jackman, Waldman & Associates
Barristers & Solicitors
281 Eglinton Ave. E.
Toronto, Ontario
M4P 1L3
For the Applicant
| Morris Rosenberg |
Deputy Attorney General
of Canada
For the Respondent
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Date: 19990624
Docket: IMM-2480-98
Between:
THUSHYANTHAN THIYAGARAJAH
Applicant
| - and - |
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP
AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER