Failed Sri Lankan refugee claimant gets reprieve
A Sri Lankan man who arrived in British Columbia in Canada, aboard
the cargo ship MV Sun Sea in the summer of 2010 and claimed refugee
protection for fear of political prosecution has been granted a judicial
review of his case in his fight to remain in Canada.
Federal Court of Canada Justice James O'Reilly granted the review to
Packiyakumar Pathmanathan, after a panel of the Immigration and Refugee
Board previously dismissed the man's claim, saying his life would not be
at risk upon return to Sri Lanka.
The board accepted that Pathmanathan might be questioned for
potential links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) but said
he had not shown any association to the now defunct guerilla
organization. Pathmnathan's claim was based on the concern he would be
perceived by Sri Lankan authorities that he was associated with the
group and become a victim of cruel and unusual punishment in Sri Lanka.
In his May 15 ruling delivered in Vancouver, O'Reilly wrote that the
board did not cite any documentary evidence dealing with the treatment
of passengers on the MV Sun Sea or the MV Ocean Lady, another vessel
that brought refugee claimants to Canada from Sri Lanka. "That evidence
showed that both Sri Lankan and Canadian authorities have accused
passengers of having an association with the LTTE," he wrote. "It is
clear, even on the evidence cited by the board that persons suspected of
having ties to the LTTE, including failed refugee claimants, face a risk
of torture or mistreatment on return."
The evidence suggests, contrary to the board's finding, that
Pathmanathan would likely be questioned upon his return about a possible
link to the LTTE, said O'Reilly, adding that "had the board considered
the relevant evidence and still found a basis for dismissing Mr.
Pathmanathan's claim, its conclusion would merit considerable
deference."
Added O'Reilly: "However, in the absence of that analysis, I find
that the board's decision does not fall within the range of defensible
outcomes, based on the evidence and the law. Since the separate issue of
Pathmanathan's credibility regarding his past in Sri Lanka will have to
be re-determined at a new hearing, it is unnecessary for me to comment
on the board's findings here."
In hearing Pathmanathan's refugee claim, the board concluded that it
didn't believe the man's account of events that led to him being
intercepted by authorities off the coast of B.C. It pointed to a number
of areas of his evidence "that were implausible, as well as
inconsistencies in his testimony."
O'Reilly's decision means the judicial review will also include
another panel of the board to reconsider Pathmanathan's claim.
Pathmanathan was one of almost 500 Sri Lankan Tamils who were aboard the
MV Sun Sea, which eventually was docked in Esquimalt.
(Vancouver Courier)
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