RAD – KUWAIT – SHIA-SUNNI MARRIAGE X (Re), 2021 CanLII 153962 (CA IRB)
The appellant claimed that her family in Kuwait would kill her because she eloped and married an Iraqi Shia, which went against her strict Sunni Muslim family’s beliefs. They married in a mosque upon arriving in Canada. The Refugee Protection Division (RPD) rejected her claim on October 16, 2019, citing a lack of credibility based on inconsistencies in her testimony. The appellant argued that the RPD erred in its credibility assessment and failed to consider the risk she faced in Kuwait as a Sunni married to an Iraqi Shia.
Upon appeal, the Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) found that the RPD made several errors in its credibility findings, including misinterpreting the appellant’s testimony and relying on incorrect assumptions. The RPD also erred in drawing adverse credibility inferences from the lack of corroborative evidence, despite the appellant’s consistent testimony with country conditions regarding protection for victims of domestic violence in Kuwait. It was determined that state protection would not be reasonably forthcoming to her in Kuwait and that she did not have a viable internal flight alternative (IFA) within the country. As a result, the appeal was allowed, and the panel made a substitute decision finding that the appellant is a Convention refugee under paragraph 111(1)(b) of the IRPA.