M.O. S.H. (Pakistan) v Refugee Appeals Tribunal and Others

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judge: Mr. Justice Eagar
• Judgment Date: 27 March 2015
• Neutral Citation: [2015] IEHC 209
• Court: High Court
• Date: 27 March 2015

[2015] IEHC 209

THE HIGH COURT

[No 378 J.R./2011]

H (M O S)(Pakistan) v Refugee Appeals Tribunal & Ors

No Redaction Needed

JUDICIAL REVIEW

BETWEEN

M.O. S.H. (PAKISTAN)

APPLICANTS

AND

THE REFUGEE APPEALS TRIBUNAL, THE MINISTER FOR JUSTICE, EQUALITY, THE ATTORNEY GENERAL AND IRELAND

RESPONDENTS

Order of Certiorari – Appeal – Refugee – Fear of Persecution – Credibility – Internal Relocation – State Protection – Decision-Making – Practice and Procedures

Facts: This case concerned a telescoped application for an order of certiorari quashing the decision of the first named Respondent to affirm the recommendation of the Refugee Applications Commissioner and an order remitting the appeal of the Applicant for determination de novo by a separate member of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal. The applicant, a Sunni Muslim from Pakistan had fallen in love with a girl from an Ahmadi family. That family was involved in drug dealing. His fiancée and he planned to marry and they eloped, however, she was killed and he believed that it was her family who did it and he feared they would kill him also. Consequently, he fled Pakistan in fear of his life and arrived in Ireland on the 2nd September 2010 and applied for asylum. The applicant sought to challenge the decision of the first named respondent on a number of basis including: (1) he had given a comprehensive account of his travel and that the Tribunal failed to state any reason for the summary rejection of his explanation; (2) the Applicant had stated he had never had a passport and he travelled on a false passport given to him by an agent; (3) that certain decisions were based on conjecture on the part of the first named Respondent; (4) the tribunal member did not have regard to the illiteracy of the Applicant; (5) that the credibility findings were unfounded; and finally that (6) errors had been made in the context of internal relocation and State Protection findings.

Held by Justice Eagar in light of the available evidence and submissions presented that he was satisfied that a number of the findings on credibility at issue under consideration were arrived at without a rational basis for same. As the impugned findings were part of a wider set of credibility findings which had an accumulative effect in this decision, the Court reasoned that it was not possible to say whether they were major or minor credibility findings. In the circumstances it was determined necessary to quash the entire decision. Consequently, the Court granted an order of certiorari quashing the decision of the second named Respondent on the 30th March 2011 and directed that the Applicant”s appeal against the decision of the Refugee Applications Commissioner should be remitted back to a different member of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal for determination by a different Tribunal Member.

1 1. This is a telescoped application for an order of certiorari quashing the decision of the first named Respondent to affirm the recommendation of the Refugee Applications Commissioner and an order remitting the appeal of the Applicant for determination de novo by a separate member of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal.

2 2. The Applicant was born on the 18 ^th April 1977 in Pakistan. His family are Sunni Muslims. In his affidavit sworn on the 6 ^th May 2011 he says that he fell in love with a girl from an Ahmadi family. This family was involved in drug dealing. His fiancée and himself planned to marry and they eloped however she was killed and he believed that it was her family who did it and he feared they would kill him also. In such circumstances he fled Pakistan in fear of his life and remained in such fear.

3 3. He said he arrived in Ireland on the 2 ^nd September 2010 and applied for asylum. He completed an ASY1 form on the 20 ^th September 2010 and completed a questionnaire on the 29 ^th September 2010. He was interviewed on behalf of the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner on the 4 ^th November 2011 and by letter from the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner he was informed that they Refugee Applications Commissioner was recommending that he should not be declared a refugee. A Form 1 notice of appeal was lodged by his solicitors and his appeal was heard on the 8 ^th November 2011. The decision was given by the first named Respondent on the 30 ^th March 2011 in which the first named Respondent affirmed the recommendation of the Refugee Applications Commissioner and these proceedings were commenced.

Hearing before the first named Respondent

4 4. The Applicant was born on the 18 ^th April 1977 and is from Lahore, Pakistan. He is single, a Sunni Muslim from the Malik ethnic group. His questionnaire indicates that he received no formal education and he most recently worked for 5 years as a helper in an estate agency. The Applicant said that he arrived in Ireland on the 2 ^nd September 2010 and he applied for asylum on the 17 ^th September 2010. He said that he had no idea that he was coming to Ireland. He was asked why he left Pakistan and he said that his life was in danger. He said that there was a girl involved. He ran away with this girl and this got him into trouble as her family did not want that. The Applicant explained that the problem was caused by the fact that he was a Sunni Muslim whereas the girl and the family were of the Ahmadi belief. The Applicant was asked whether the difference in religion was the cause of his problems with the girl's family. He said that he had run away with her, that her family did not like that but they found the couple one day while he was away at work. She was at home and she was killed by them. The Applicant explained that he and the girl had run away from their home in Lahore to Karachi. He was asked why he decided to run away with the girl and he said that the couple thought that if they ran away things would resolve themselves in time.

5 5. The Applicant said that the girl's family did not agree to the marriage and he said it was because they belonged to a different belief. He said that his family went to talk to her family but her family would not agree to a marriage. He said they ran away because if they had stayed in Lahore both their lives would have been in danger. He said that the girl's brother threatened him and he would be killed if he stayed with the girl.

6 6. He said the couple were preparing to get married. His girlfriend had been in contact with one of her cousins back home but the Applicant did not know how her family found their whereabouts. He said that after about 2 ½ - 3 months in Karachi his girlfriend was killed at their home while he was work. He did not know who had killed his girlfriend but suggested it might have been her brother.

7 7. The Applicant never returned to that house. He knew his girlfriend had been killed because the landlord told him. The landlord was living in the same building on the ground floor.

8 8. The Applicant was asked whether he did anything such as report the matter to the police. He said he had already been reported to the police by the girl's family so he did not want to go to the police. Her family had falsely accused him of kidnapping the girl and this report was made when the couple ran away together.

9 9. The Applicant was pressed as to why this matter would have stopped him going to the police. He said that he was scared to report to the police as he was afraid that the matter of the false kidnapping charge would be brought against him.

10 10. He said they did not have much money at the time and they were using most of their money on rent and saving up the rest to get married. The Applicant was asked whether he could relocate elsewhere in Pakistan or even elsewhere in Karachi. He said "yes but they (the girl's family) have contacts everywhere". He said that if he were relocated the information would get out and his girlfriend's family would eventually track him through their contacts. He asked what he meant about his girlfriend's friend the Applicant said that his girlfriend's family were involved in illegal drugs and they had contacts throughout Pakistan.

11 11. In relation to his travel it was put to the Applicant that he had intended to travel on to the United Kingdom rather than Ireland. He said he had met a man at the airport in Pakistan who told him he would take the Applicant to Ireland and then onto the UK. This man told the Applicant he would get him a work permit for the UK. It was also put to the Applicant that he had previously said he had a brother living in Saudi Arabia and he was asked why did not try to settle in Saudi Arabia. The Applicant said he did not come across anyone who said they would take him to Saudi Arabia.

12 12. It was put to the Applicant that it was not unusual in Pakistan for marriages to be arranged and he was asked whether his girlfriend had ever been arranged to be married. He said she had not.

13 13. The Applicant was asked where did he get the money to pay the agent if he has been spending all his money in Karachi on rent. He said there was a house and it had been in his mother's name but she transferred to the Applicant when she died. The house was sold and the agent was paid with the proceeds. He said the house was put on the market after his girlfriend was killed. He was in Islamabad at the time and the house was in Lahore.

14 14. The Applicant was asked whether his family was of the same social background and level of work as his girlfriend's family. He said "her family are quite rich because of their work. We were poor. We only had one house and I was forced to sell it." The Applicant was then asked where his father went to live after the house was sold. He said his father moved to live in rented accommodation where he lived alone. The Applicant was asked why he would get involved with this girl because of the...