Opinion ID: 1468436
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: relief requirements

Text: The Attorney General has discretion to grant asylum to a refugee. See Makatengkeng v. Gonzales, 495 F.3d 876, 881 (8th Cir.2007). To establish eligibility for asylum, the Al Yatims must show they are unable or unwilling to return to ... [the West Bank] because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A). [P]ersecution is an extreme concept that excludes [l]ow-level intimidation and harassment. Shoaira v. Ashcroft, 377 F.3d 837, 844 (8th Cir.2004) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). Persecution includes the credible threat of death, torture, or injury to one's person or liberty on account of a protected ground. See Regalado-Garcia v. INS, 305 F.3d 784, 787 (8th Cir.2002). If past persecution is established, a well-founded fear of future persecution must be presumed. 8 C.F.R. § 1208.13(b)(1). Without the benefit of the presumption, an asylum applicant may prove a well-founded fear of future persecution by showing an objectively reasonable fear of particularized persecution. Makatengkeng, 495 F.3d at 881 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). The fear must also be `subjectively genuine.' Id. (citation omitted). Although non-discretionary, [t]he burden of proof for withholding of removal is higher than that required for asylum. Aziz v. Gonzales, 478 F.3d 854, 858 (8th Cir.2007) (citation omitted). To qualify for withholding of removal, the Al Yatims must show a clear probability of persecution in the proposed country of removal on the basis of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. See Mouawad, 485 F.3d at 411 (citing 8 C.F.R. § 1208.16(b)). To obtain CAT relief, the Al Yatims must show they will more likely than not suffer torture if returned to Palestine. 8 C.F.R. § 1208.16(c)(2). Torture is defined as an act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted, and it is an extreme form of cruel and inhuman treatment; it does not include lesser forms of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. Krasnopivtsev v. Ashcroft, 382 F.3d 832, 840 (8th Cir.2004) (citation omitted).