IMMIGRATION — Refugee status — Requirements
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Applicants were Czech nationals of Roma ethnicity — Applicants claimed there were number of incidents that constituted persecution, including several attacks by skinheads, racial insults on public transport and being forced off transport and being removed from soccer team — There were claims of forced sterilization and of petitions to remove Romas from rental properties — One applicant suffered from mental illness and was enrolled in special needs school, without parents’ consent, where he was constantly harassed, attacked and injured — Reports of attacks were made to police but no arrests were made — Applicants claimed refugee protection — Refugee Protection Division (RPD) denied refugee protection status based on credibility concerns, finding that incidents did not rise to level of persecution and that applicants had not rebutted presumption of state protection with clear and convincing evidence — Applicants applied for judicial review — Application granted — It was unreasonable and unfair for RPD to lump all applicants into concerns about credibility of one applicant — RPD found applicant to be credible except for two incidents and expressed no substantive credibility concerns about other applicants — RPD’s credibility findings could not stand — RPD failed to provide analysis of cumulative effects of incidents or explanation of why incidents of discrimination did not reach level of persecution — Applicants were entitled to know why incidents did not rise to level of persecution — Issue of state protection was live issue and RPD failed to consider operational adequacy, which it was required to do — State protection analysis was incomplete