H (G) (A Minor) [Pakistan] v Refugee Appeals Tribunal and Others
| Jurisdiction | Ireland |
| Judge | Mr. Justice Eagar |
| Judgment Date | 17 September 2015 |
| Neutral Citation | [2015] IEHC 583 |
| Court | High Court |
| Date | 17 September 2015 |
[2015] IEHC 583
THE HIGH COURT
BETWEEN
AND
Asylum, Immigration & Nationality – The Refugee Act 1996 – Reg. 5 of the European Communities (Eligibility for Protection) Regulations 2006 – Judicial review – Country of origin information – Art. 10 (1) of the European Union Qualification Directive Fear of persecution – Best interests of child
Facts: The minor applicant through her mother sought leave to seek judicial review of the decision of the first named respondent that the applicant should not be granted refugee status. The mother of the applicant contended that the first named respondent had failed to consider the persecution that the applicant suffered on account of her Ahmadi status.
Mr. Justice Eagar granted leave to the applicant and quashed the decision of the first named respondent as it was a telescoped hearing and directed that the appeal should be reconsidered by a different member of the first named respondent. The Court held that the first named respondent was bound to consider the individual position and personal circumstances of the applicant including background, age and gender as mentioned under reg. 5 of the European Communities (Eligibility for Protection) Regulations 2006. The Court opined that the best interests of the child should have been considered by the first named respondent which, if viewed under relevant international reports, affirmed that there existed widespread discrimination, killings and attacks on the people of Ahmadi faith in Pakistan. The Court held that art. 10 (1) of the European Union Qualification Directive clearly pointed out that while assessing the reasons for persecutions, the freedom to profess one's religious beliefs must be considered.
On the 30 th day of July 2015, this court gave an order extending the period of time with regard to the good and reasonable grounds set out by the mother of the Applicant in this case.
The grounds upon which relief was sought in the statement of grounds in relation to G.H., the infant, are as follows:-
2 "1) The Tribunal erred in law and in fact in finding that the there was no evidence that the infant Applicant would be at risk of persecution in Pakistan. In the alternative the said finding is irrational in the light of the law as directed towards Ahmadyya Muslims in Pakistan and country of origin information reports showing that the persecution of Ahmadyya Muslims is endemic in Pakistan.
2) The Tribunal erred in law in placing a requirement that the Applicant should show she is 'an exceptional' Ahmadi in circumstances where country reports placed before the Tribunal show that non "exceptional" Ahmadis are exposed to persecution in Pakistan."
The affidavit of Q.H., the mother of the Applicant, was sworn for the purpose of verifying the facts that were relied upon in the statement of grounds. In that affidavit, she stated that the Applicant, her daughter, was born in Pakistan on the 28 th of December, 2005, into an Ahmadi family. She stated that her daughter had suffered persecution since birth on account of her Ahmadi status. Her father was forced to flee Pakistan in fear for his life in 2005. He was refused refugee status by reason of a finding that state protection would be available to him in Pakistan.
The Applicant's father has since been granted leave to remain in Ireland in circumstances where his representations were substantially directed to his faith and the treatment of the Ahmadi in Pakistan.
As a result of the increasing persecution the Deponent and her daughter experienced, they were forced to flee Pakistan. They arrived in Ireland on the 8 th of October 2011 and made separate and unsuccessful asylum applications. She had completed the ASY1 Form in respect of her daughter and attended for interview with the Commission in respect of her daughter's application. She was subsequently notified that the Commissioner had refused her daughter a grant of refugee status, and a Notice of Appeal was submitted to the Refugee Appeals Tribunal. She was informed by letter on the 13 th of July, 2012, that the Tribunal had affirmed the decision of the Commissioner in relation to her daughter.
The Notice of Appeal on behalf of G.H. included a significant amount of country of origin information, illustrating the discriminatory and persecutory treatment towards Ahmadis in Pakistan, in particular the attacks by "unknown terrorists" on two separate Ahmadi congregations in Lahore on the 28 th of May, 2010. The country of origin information stated that the Punjab Chief Minister, the President of Pakistan and the Prime Minister condemned the attacks and ordered an enquiry. However the Punjab Commission had not yet contacted the Ahmadiyya Community. One year after that attack, on the 29 th of May 2011, thirty-eight Ahmadis died in coordinated gun- and bomb- attacks on two places of worship used by the community in Lahore. The Express newspaper stated that:-
"there seems to have been no determined effort on the part of the authorities in Punjab to track down those responsible, or to ensure that such an incident never takes place again."
Australian Government Refugee Review Tribunal Country Advice (Pakistan) dated the 4 th of June 2010 states:-
"Widespread campaigns of intimidation and violence against Ahmadi followers are predominantly carried out by extremist Islamic groups such as Sunni Tehrik, Tehrik-e-Tahafaz, Khatm-e-Nabuwat, Sipa-e-Sahaba, and others."
The Country Advice (Pakistan) also says that the extreme Jihadi groups have pressurised police in Punjab to charge Ahmadi students with blasphemy, and call for their fellow-Ahmadis to leave their private tuition school.
8. The Human Rights Watch World Report of 2012 states:-
"Pakistan had a disastrous year in 2011 hellip; religious minorities faced unprecedented insecurity and persecution."
In I.P.S. News, dated the 22 nd of November, 2011, it was stated:-
"For years, Ahmadis in Pakistan have kept a low profile, living in constant fear and humiliation. Now the hatred has spread and the oppressors have become more belligerent, which has led to several instances of overt faith-based persecution. In June pamphlets listing names and addresses of Ahmadi families alongside messages inciting murder were distributed in the Punjab city of Faisalabad. Several months later, 55 year old Ahmad, whose name had appeared on that list, was shot dead in his homehellip;"
This anti-Ahmadi sentiment is not restricted to Punjab alone. The U.K. Border Agency Country of Origin Information Report dated the 29 th of September states the following:-
"The hate speech, intimidation and violence against the Ahmadis which has been the norm in Pakistan, grew alarmingly in the year under reviewhellip; 2010 was the worst in terms of the numbers of killings since 1984."
In monitoring the mainstream Urdu papers during 2010, the HRCP Report of 2010 found 1,468 news, articles and editorials that promoted hate, intolerance or discrimination against the Ahmadis. Hate campaigns against the Ahmadi Community also continued across the country through the use of stickers, wall chalking and the distribution of pamphlets.
The atmosphere of intolerance towards Ahmadis - in which the perpetrators of violence against them are painted as the injured parties - is increasing and is being indirectly nurtured by the government, who do not defend Ahmadis.
Three years ago a member of the Judiciary or Government would have spoken out against violence or stepped in to defend Ahmadis against attacks of the press, but this is no longer the case."
These are a small sample of the country of origin information, all of which is in the same vein.
11. The first-named Respondent indicated that she referred to the evidence set out by the Applicant's mother on her daughter's behalf by way of background, and also the evidence of the Applicant's mother in her case, and also the evidence of the Applicant's father in his case. The first-named respondent states that the Applicant was a young Ahmadi Muslim who was born in 2005, thus is only seven years of age. Her only experiences in Pakistan could be said to be those during the course of her education and those experienced through her interaction with other children. The Applicant's...
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