Date: 19980514
Docket: IMM-2256-97
BETWEEN:
NASIR MEHMOOD
Applicant
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER
McGILLIS, J.
[1] The applicant has challenged by way of judicial review a decision of the Immigration and Refugee Board ("Board") that he was not a Convention refugee. The applicant had claimed Convention refugee status on the ground of religion, based on his membership in a particular social group, namely the Ahmadi Muslim (Lahori) community in Pakistan.
[2] In its decision, the Board indicated that the central issue in the refugee claim was "the identity" of the applicant as a Lahori Ahmadi. In its brief analysis, the Board noted that the applicant was not registered as a member of the Lahori Ahmadi with the central Anjuman, that he did not sign the bait form when he became of age, and that he had a Muslim passport which would not have been issued to a Lahori Ahmadi. As a result, the Board concluded that the applicant was not a member of the Ahmadi faith, and that his claim failed on that basis.
[3] Counsel for the applicant argued that the Board erred in law by restricting its analysis to the question of whether the applicant was formally a member of the Lahori Ahmadi religion, and by failing to consider whether he had a well-founded fear of persecution arising from the perception that he was a member of that religion. In support of his argument, counsel for the applicant noted, among other things, the extensive evidence in the record indicating that the applicant had suffered persecution at the hands of Sunni Muslims who perceived him to be a Lahori Muslim.
[4] Given the extensive evidence adduced by the applicant concerning his alleged persecution based on the perception of others that he was a member of the Lahori Ahmadi religion, I have concluded that the Board erred in law by restricting its analysis to the question of whether he was a registered or official member of that religion. In my opinion, the Board was required, on the basis of the evidence in the record before it, to determine whether the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution arising from the perception that he was a member of the Lahori Ahmadi religion.
[5] The application for judicial review is allowed. The decision of the Board is quashed and the matter is remitted to a differently constituted Board for rehearing and redetermination. The case raises no serious question of general importance.
"D. McGillis"
Judge
Toronto, Ontario
May 14, 1998
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Names of Counsel and Solicitors of Record
COURT NO: IMM-2256-97
| STYLE OF CAUSE: NASIR MEHMOOD |
- and -
| THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION |
DATE OF HEARING: MAY 13, 1998
PLACE OF HEARING: TORONTO, ONTARIO
REASONS FOR ORDER BY: MCGILLIS, J.
DATED: MAY 14, 1998
APPEARANCES: Mr. Douglas Barker
For the Applicant
Mr. Stephen Gold
For the Respondent
SOLICITORS OF RECORD: Raymond & Honsberger
Barristers & Solicitors
65 Queen Street West
Suite 1700
Toronto, Ontario
M5H 2M5
For the Applicant
George Thomson
Deputy Attorney General
of Canada
For the Respondent
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Date: 19980514
Docket: IMM-2256-97
Between:
| NASIR MEHMOOD |
Applicant
- and -
| THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION |
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER