CCPR/C/125/D/2323/2013
1.1
The authors of the communication are F.Z., born on 31 August 1975, and his wife
M.Z., born on 8 April 1978. They submit the communication also on behalf of their two
minor children: X, born on 11 June 2009, and Y, born on 5 October 2006. The authors are
nationals of Romania seeking asylum in Canada and subject to deportation to Romania
following the Canadian authorities’ rejection of their application for refugee status. They
claim that by forcibly deporting them to Romania, Canada would violate their rights under
articles 3, 6 (1), 7, 9 (1), 17 (1), 24 (1), 26 and 27 of the Covenant. The Optional Protocol
entered into force for Canada on 19 August 1976. The authors are represented by counsel.
1.2
On 27 December 2013, pursuant to rule 92 of the Committee’s rules of procedure,
the Special Rapporteur on new communications and interim measures decided not to issue a
request for interim measures.
The facts as submitted by the authors
2.1
The authors are of Roma ethnicity and used to live in Romania. F.Z. was
discriminated against at school and subjected to violence. The abuse by students and
teachers reached such a level that he dropped his studies at the end of primary school.
Starting from 1993, he worked with his father, in construction. However, since he was
Roma, he always had difficulties in being hired. He was also discriminated against at work
on account of his ethnic origin.
2.2
In June 2006, he married M.Z. In October 2006, when M.Z. was about to give birth
to their first child, the authors went to Bucharest and looked for a hospital. However, five
hospitals refused to admit them, so M.Z. had to give birth in dangerous conditions with the
help of Roma midwives. They faced a similar experience when their second child was born
in 2009.
2.3
In December 2009, F.Z. was assaulted by three young skinheads when he was on a
city bus in Bucharest. He twisted his ankle when he was thrown off the bus, and although
he was in need of medical help, a nearby hospital refused to admit him. Finally, on 16 July
2010, their eldest child was denied registration at the local day-care centre, as the director
did not want to upset the parents of the “real” Romanians. F.Z. went to the centre to
demand an explanation. Because F.Z. was infuriated, the director was frightened and called
the police, who handcuffed him. F.Z. was taken to an isolated area and severely beaten by
police officers with rubber batons. He was warned to be “more polite to Romanians”, and
was then abandoned. When he sought to file a complaint with the local mayor, he was not
believed and was told to stop telling lies. No investigation was carried out.
2.4
The authors therefore decided to join M.Z.’s family in Canada. On 22 August 2010,
they arrived in Canada, via Mexico, on fake Italian passports, 1 and requested asylum at the
airport, upon their arrival. They claimed that they had been persecuted in Romania due to
their Roma ethnicity, marginalized, and subjected to violence at school. They had been
refused access to social and health services and had been victims of discrimination on
public transport and in places open to the general public such as restaurants, cinemas and
discos.
2.5
On 14 January 2013, the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada refused their
application for asylum,2 considering that they did not fall under the refugee category in the
sense of the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, nor any other category of person
in need of international protection. The Board also found the authors’ statements
contradictory and their accounts of persecution not credible.
2.6
The authors filed an application for leave and judicial review before the Federal
Court of Canada, which was dismissed on 31 May 2013 without reasons.
2.7
1
2
2
On 3 January 2014, the authors were removed to Romania.
Because they had been denied visitor visas to Canada in 2007.
The authors were represented by counsel.