Date: 20000718
Docket: IMM-6134-99
BETWEEN:
ZYULHAN ISMAIL HADJALARAN
Applicant
- and -
THE MINISTER OF
CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER AND ORDER
CAMPBELL J.
[1] In the present case, the basis for the Applicant"s fear of persecution is, as a Turk facing return to Bulgaria, he would suffer persecution by a Bulgarian family who has wrongly taken his family"s land.
[2] In its findings, the CRDD accepted that the Applicant was persecuted by the Bulgarian family prior to his arrival in Canada, but found that the persecution was related only to the land dispute, and not for a Convention reason. In addition, the CRDD found that, in giving his evidence, the Applicant had a propensity to exaggerate the plight of Turkish-Bulgarians in Bulgaria, and, therefore, discounted some of his evidence.
[3] However, the CRDD did not comment on the following critical statement made by the Applicant intended to prove the nexus between the land dispute and persecution for a Convention reason:
| With Turks, it"s very common. This happens in the case of Turks a lot. And it has not only happened to me, it has happened to a few others, quite a few other people. It happens, it"s instigated and done by the Bulgarians. 1 |
[4] Given the importance of this statement to the Applicant"s claim, I find it was an error for the CRDD not to provide a specific reason for not accepting the Applicant"s statement as true.
[5] In support of the claim that there is a reasonable chance the Applicant would suffer persecution were he returned to Bulgaria, the Applicant supplied a police summons, which it is argued, thus engages the Bulgarian state in the persecution perpetrated by the Bulgarian family. The CRDD"s conclusions respecting the summons are as follows:
| The panel also questions the reliability and authenticity of the alleged summons proffered by the claimant. The summons, ostensibly issued in June 1999, almost seven months after the claimant"s departure, contains no case number, date of issue, or reason for the claimant to attend the police station. Given the omissions in this document, the panel is unable to give it any weight. The panel is not persuaded that the local police became involved in the property dispute on behalf of the Mirchev family after the claimant left Bulgaria. 2 |
[6] In my opinion, the CRDD should have first ruled on the authenticity of the summons and, if properly found to be authentic, then decided on the weight to be given to it. To decide as it did, the CRDD left the impression that there is fraud in the tendering of the document, which I find is an unfair and unsubstantiated conclusion, and, thus, constitutes a reviewable error.
ORDER
[7] Accordingly, I refer this matter back to a differently constituted panel of the CRDD for re-determination.
"Douglas R. Campbell"
J.F.C.C.
Toronto, Ontario
July 18, 2000
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Names of Counsel and Solicitors of Record
| COURT NO: IMM-6134-99 |
| STYLE OF CAUSE: ZYULHAN ISMAIL HADJALARAN |
- and -
| THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION |
| DATE OF HEARING: TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2000 |
| PLACE OF HEARING: TORONTO, ONTARIO |
REASONS FOR ORDER
| AND ORDER BY: CAMPBELL J. |
DATED: TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2000
| APPEARANCES BY: Mr. Michael Crane |
| For the Applicant |
| Mr. Marcel Larouche |
| For the Respondent |
| SOLICITORS OF RECORD: Michael Crane |
Barrister & Solicitor
166 Pearl Street, Suite 200
Toronto, Ontario
M5H 1L3
| For the Applicant |
Morris Rosenberg
Deputy Attorney General of Canada
For the Respondent
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Date: 20000718
Docket: IMM-6134-99
BETWEEN:
| ZYULHAN ISMAIL HADJALARAN |
Applicant
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP
AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
| REASONS FOR ORDER |
AND ORDER
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