IMM-2733-96
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, THIS 20th DAY OF JUNE 1997
PRESENT: THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE NOËL
BETWEEN:
NATALIA GREIM,
SLAVA SHAKIN,
Applicants,
and
MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION,
Respondent
O R D E R
The application for judicial review is dismissed.
Marc Noël
Judge
Certified true translation
C. Delon, LL.L.
IMM-2733-96
BETWEEN:
NATALIA GREIM,
SLAVA SHAKIN,
Applicants,
and
MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION,
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER
NOËL J.
This is an application for judicial review of a decision of the Refugee Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board (the tribunal) dated July 11, 1996, determining that the applicants (the applicant and her son, Slava) are not Convention refugees. Also in that decision the tribunal found that the appellant's second son, Alexei, was a Convention refugee.
According to the applicant, the tribunal ignored the impact of the separation of the family on herself in determining the case. The tribunal should have taken into consideration the fact that she would be deprived of having her son Alexei with her if she were to return to Israel.
I note first that at the material time Alexei was an adult and he was granted refugee status in respect of circumstances unique to him. Moreover, the concept of family unity does not appear in the Convention, and is not included in the tests on which refugee status is determined.1 While the tribunal should naturally try to preserve the family unit where doing so is consistent with the legal situation of its members, it cannot do so if the facts do not lend themselves to this. In the instant case, Alexei alone was able to establish, having regard to circumstances unique to himself, that he was a Convention refugee. I cannot find any error in this respect in the impugned decision.
The applicant Slava submits that the tribunal erred in minimizing the extent of the discrimination and violence he suffered while he was in the army. In his view, the tribunal should have found that he had a legitimate fear, having regard to those incidents. However, the tribunal concluded that it could not find that his fear of returning was well-founded since he had been released from his military service. This is a complete response to the objection raised by the applicant.
The application for judicial review is dismissed.
Marc Noël
Judge
OTTAWA, Ontario
June 20, 1997
Certified true translation
C. Delon, LL.L.
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
TRIAL DIVISION
NAMES OF COUNSEL AND SOLICITORS OF RECORD
COURT FILE NO: IMM-2735-96
STYLE OF CAUSE: NATALIA GREIM, SLAVA SHAKIN v. M.C.I.
PLACE OF HEARING: MONTRÉAL, QUEBEC
DATE OF HEARING: June 18, 1997
REASONS FOR ORDER OF NOËL J.
DATED: June 20, 1997
APPEARANCES:
Yves Gravel FOR THE APPLICANTS
Michèle Joubert FOR THE RESPONDENT
SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
Gravel et associés FOR THE APPLICANTS
Montréal, Quebec
George Thomson FOR THE RESPONDENT
Deputy Attorney General of Canada
__________________
1 See the reasons of Nadon J. in Costellanos v. Canada (Solicitor General), [1995] 2 F.C. 190.