Jagdeo v. Canada ( Minister of Citizenship and Immigration )
IMM-1805-97
Teitelbaum J.
1/5/98
14 pp.
Application for judicial review of Convention Refugee Division's decision applicant not Convention refugee-Applicant, 26-year-old citizen of India, claiming well-founded fear of persecution based on political opinion, membership in particular social group-Became community worker at Sikh temple, popular among villagers-Applicant arrested with another person while police raided house on September 15, 1995-Kept in detention for 11 days while being tortured-Applicant left India on January 18, 1996, arrived in Canada same day to claim refugee status-Refugee Division held applicant did not have well-founded fear of persecution based on political opinion-Concluded applicant not Convention refugee as had internal flight alternative (IFA)-Applicant's sole ground for review Refugee Division's finding IFA existed outside Punjab-Onus on applicant to prove on balance of probabilities serious risk of persecution in alleged IFA-Evidence more relevant to claimant's circumstances will always have greater probative value in IFA assessment than evidence bearing lesser, little relevance-Refugee Division must make determination of existence of available IFA based on claimant's circumstances-Did consider applicant's situation-Court rejecting applicant's submission Refugee Division should have considered whether applicant target for extortion in India outside Punjab-No evidence establishing on balance of probabilities applicant would face serious risk of persecution due to extortion-Refugee Division using word "persuade" in stating applicant did not persuade Board on balance of probabilities he did not have IFA anywhere in India-Word "persuade" correct word, properly used by Refugee Division-Use of word "satisfy" in legal context not applicable herein-In practical terms, use of "satisfy", "persuade" same-Application dismissed.