Federal court | Immigration
REFUGEE STATUS
All documents filed must be considered before coming to conclusion
Foreign national was alleged citizen of Democratic Republic of Congo (“DRC”) who claimed refugee protection on basis of his political opinion and risk of torture if returned to DRC. Foreign national fled DRC, and came to Canada using false British passport, on which he had inserted his photo. University letter and transcript submitted by foreign national contained numerous spelling errors. Foreign national also submitted driver’s licence and voter card, which included photograph and also submitted arrest warrant, all of which board concluded were not genuine documents. Board rejected claim on ground foreign national had not established his identity. Application granted. Board failed to deal with applicant’s original voter card, which was national identity card in DRC, and his driver’s licence. Board could not come to reasonable assessment of applicant’s identity by only focusing on those documents where authenticity appeared doubtful and ignoring those documents which appeared to be trustworthy. All documents filed and explanations provided by applicant must be considered before coming to conclusion. Board erred in determining that applicant had not established his identity.
Kabongo v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) (Oct. 25, 2013, F.C., Yves de Montigny J., File No. IMM-8204-12) 235 A.C.W.S. (3d) 475
