Stewart Sharma Harsanyi Immigration Law Firm Blog

Internal Flight Alternative -Nigeria and Pakistan Refugee Claims

A safe and reasonable Internal Flight Alternative -or IFA -is often used as justification to refuse a refugee claim from Pakistan and Nigeria. The IFA must be addressed by counsel and claimant -it allows the RPD to deny a claim even if there is credible evidence that there is risk upon return. The risk of course must extend to all parts of the country. Bjorn handled a case from Pakistan (Ali)-a consequential one with Justice Russell commenting on the IFA analysis. This was earlier this year. Justice Manson has followed up with a more recent decision expanding/expounding on Justice Russell's line of reasoning. Counsel/claimant alleging non-state agents of persecution should be aware and prepared to argue against a safe/reasonable IFA: [20] This Court has consistently held that a refugee claimant cannot be expected to live in hiding in order for a proposed IFA to be reasonable. Considering that the agents of persecution have made repeated visits to the PA’s mother and sisters to solicit the Applicants’ whereabouts, it follows that the Applicants cannot disclose their IFA location whereabouts to these family members in Nigeria. The Federal Court in Ali, above, has held that it is not reasonable to expect family... Read more →

An Oversight or Simple Inadvertence Can Have Serious Immigration Consequences

Ek machhar sala aadmi ko hijda bana deta hai Ek khatmal poori raat ko apahij kar deta hai It is vitally important to carefully review and accurately answer questions on any immigration application. Many individuals have found themselves banned from Canada for a half decade for a simple oversight or inadvertence -for example, failing to advise of previous refusals or applications. Applicants will be provided a procedural fairness opportunity, but in my experience, they again fail to provide a complete, fulsome, credible response. After a refusal, they then approach a Canadian lawyer for recourse to the Federal Court. Judicial review of such refusals are difficult given the available jurisprudence. Intent is not required for such a finding; the one "defence" is exceedingly narrow; the misrepresentation or withholding/omission need only be "material"; just because the Officer or IRCC had the relevant (correct) information does not help. A recent Federal Court case provides a good overview (2020 FC 872). Officers will be given a good deal of deference or margin with respect to their (sometimes disproportionate) decisions. My thoughts? Prevention is the best medicine. Carefully review the application -do not rely on any agent or ghost consultant and even if a registered... Read more →

Somalian Refugee Claim

Another day, another hearing. Today it will be a refugee claim by a minority from Somalia. The situation for minorities in Somalia is difficult. They face systemic discrimination and have no protection and little redress or recourse. My client has suffered trauma -his son married a woman from a majority clan -an act that is still taboo. Reaction from her clan was swift and devastated the family. Common issues for this type of claim include identity (always an issue for Somalian claims -not just nationality but whether they can establish that they are members of the group) and of course, credibility. State protection and Internal Flight Alternative are usually not applicable. The available country condition evidence is corroborative of my client's claims. I found the following to be of assistance: "No redress: Somalia's forgotten minorities" Martin Hill (Minority Rights Group International); "Country Policy and Information Note. Somalia: Majority clans and minority groups in south and central Somalia" UK Home Office. There are also a number of helpful RIRs in the NDP. It's important to not rely exclusively on the NDP -claimant specific documents were also provided and additional corroborative country condition documents (not in the NDP) was disclosed. Barring any... Read more →