RAD-NIGERIA – BISEXUAL-CREDIBILITY ASSESSMENT X (Re), 2021 CanLII 154072 (CA IRB)
The appellant fears persecution as a bisexual man in Nigeria. The Refugee Protection Division (RPD) drew a negative inference because the appellant changed his testimony about how he was divorced and of his escape from vigilantes. The RPD rejected the appellant’s claim due to credibility and found the appellant is not bisexual and the central allegations are not true.
The Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) in its independent analysis of the record found no issues with the appellant’s evidence except for a single contradiction between his Basis of Claim (BOC) narrative and his oral testimony. The RAD also found that the appellant’s supporting documents are reliable, they provide a positive corroboration of his bisexual orientation contrary to the RPD findings. The RAD found the appellant is a credible witness, he is bisexual, and the rest of the central allegations in his claim are also true on a balance of probabilities.
The RAD found the RPD made multiple credibility assessment errors which was fatal to its determination of the claim. The RAD therefore allowed the appeal and substituted its determination that the appellant is a convention refugee pursuant to s.111(1)(b) of the IRPA.