Yu Chen v. M.C.I., 2012 FC 510

Facts:

The applicant is a 22 year old Christian from Liaoning Province in the PRC and seeks refugee protection.  The applicant’s house church was raided.  The applicant was given notice of the raid and escaped.  After going into hiding the applicant learned that the PSB were looking for him and thus decided to flee the country.

Findings of the Board: The panel found the applicant’s story was not credible and that he was not a genuine Christian and in the event the applicant decided to become a Christian he could do so without fear of persecution.

Decision:  Court adopts the decision in Wang where the Court determined that assessing whether religious identity “by way of trivia” questions is an error.  The panel was also microscopic in its analysis and relied on peripheral matters to reject major aspects of the claimant’s case.  Finally, the panel erred when it found there were no incidents of persecution in Liaoning Province, which was directly contradicted by the evidence.

Counsel of Record: Shelley Levine

Appearance: Jayson Thomas