Date: 20001220
Docket: IMM-6169-99
BETWEEN:
YULAI WEI
Applicant
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP
AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER
(Delivered orally from the bench in Toronto,
Ontario, on Wednesday, December 20, 2000)
SIMPSON J.
[1] This is an application pursuant to s. 82.1(1) of the Immigration Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. I-2 (the "Act") for judicial review of a decision of the Convention Refugee Determination Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board (the "Board") dated October 7, 1999, wherein the Board determined that the Applicant was not a Convention refugee.
The Issue
[2] The only issue in this judicial review is whether the Board erred in its negative assessment of the Applicant's credibility.
The Facts
[3] The Applicant is a citizen of the People's Republic of China ("China") and, from 1992 until he left China for Canada in September of 1998, he was the sales and marketing manager of a company in Tianjin, China. The Applicant's personal information form ("PIF") described how he joined a small underground political organization called the Democracy Pioneer Party (the "DPP") in October 1997. It was a group of only eight members and its object was to promote democracy in China by calling for the abolition of the Chinese Communist Party.
[4] Prior to coming to Canada, neither the Applicant nor any other members of the DPP had faced any persecution. The Applicant arrived in Canada on December 21, 1998, and had with him a valid Chinese exit visa and a Canadian visitor's visa. He was a member of a delegation of 22 businessmen who received invitations to visit a company in Canada called Martin International.
[5] The Applicant's PIF states that, while he was in Canada, his home was searched by the police, and they had asked his family members about his underground political activities. In late October 1998, his father told him that the police had arrested the other seven members of the DPP. His father advised him not to return to China. In mid-November 1998, the seven other members of DPP were each sentenced to a two-year prison term. The Applicant said in his PIF that on November 24, 1998, after learning about the sentences his colleagues received, he sought refugee status in Canada.
The Board's Decision
[6] The Board member did not find the Applicant to be a credible or trustworthy witness, and he noted, in particular, the implausibility of certain "unlikely coincidences" in the Applicant's testimony. The Board found it unlikely that Chinese authorities would "pounce" on the DPP within days of the Applicant leaving China. He noted that he was entitled to draw negative inferences from unlikely events and, accordingly, he drew an adverse inference about the Applicant's credibility based on what he considered was an unlikely coincidence.
[7] The Board also considered that, since all the other members of the delegation also made refugee claims, it was probable that the trip was arranged on a fraudulent basis to pursue refugee claims and not to visit Martin International. The Board, therefore, concluded that it was unlikely that the Applicant's claim arose only after he entered Canada.
Discussion
[8] It is conceded by the Applicant that his evidence contained inconsistencies about whether his refugee claim was motivated either by the arrest or by the sentencing of the other DPP members. As well, his evidence was inconsistent about how quickly he filed his claim for refugee status.
[9] I agree with counsel for the Applicant that the Board's conclusion about the timing of the Chinese authorities' apprehension of the other DPP members is weak. The simple fact that it occurred a few days after the Applicant left China does not alone make it unlikely. However, in my view, it was open to the Board to conclude that the Applicant's refugee claim was bogus because he was part of a delegation whose members all made refugee claims. I have also concluded that the admitted inconsistencies alone would have been sufficient to justify the Board's adverse credibility finding.
[10] Accordingly, this application for judicial review is dismissed.
(Sgd.) "Sandra J. Simpson"
Judge
Toronto, Ontario
December 20, 2000
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
TRIAL DIVISION
Names of Counsel and Solicitors of Record
| DOCKET NO.: IMM-6169-99 |
| STYLE OF CAUSE: YULAI WEI |
Applicant
| - and - |
| THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION |
Respondent
| PLACE OF HEARING: TORONTO, ONTARIO |
| DATE OF HEARING: DECEMBER 20, 2000 |
| REASONS FOR ORDER BY: SIMPSON J. |
| DATED: DECEMBER 20, 2000 |
| APPEARANCES: Mr. John Savaglio |
For the Applicant
Ms. Mielka Visnic
For the Respondent
SOLICITORS OF RECORD: John Savaglio
| Barrister & Solicitor |
1919 Brookshire Sq.
Pickering, Ontario L1V 6L2
| For the Applicant |
| Morris Rosenberg |
| Deputy Attorney General of Canada |
| For the Respondent |