Opinion ID: 1429945
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Ahmed Raises a Claim for Persecution on Account of His Political Opinion

Text: As an initial matter, the Government contends that Ahmed cannot assert that he was persecuted on account of his political opinion because Ahmed disclaimed any political opinion other than a desire to move to Pakistan, and presented no evidence of political persecution. To support this assertion, the Government refers to Ahmed's testimony where the following exchange took place: IJ: Okay. And, what is the political opinion that you were trying to express in the rallies and in the demonstrations in '91 and '93? Ahmed: We do not have any political opinion for Bangladesh. Our only main protest was to send us to Pakistan. We, we cannot live this kind of living. We cannot live in this way, and we just want some kind of arrangement to be made by which we can be sent to Pakistan. In a similar vein, the IJ, in his oral decision, stated, In fact, there is no political opinion the Biharis have that's not shared by the Bengali government. The Biharis want to leave and the Bengalis want them to leave. To suggest that either of these statements demonstrates that Ahmed does not have a political opinion is disingenuous. Ahmed has a definite political opinion  he believes that the Biharis are treated very poorly in Bangladesh and he wishes to leave Bangladesh for Pakistan. Ahmed's testimony may have inartfully stated his position, but we do not think that it can be interpreted as disavowing his claims that the government and police are trying to oppress us . . . when we try to say something. Rather, it is because Ahmed makes no secret of his beliefs and because he is an outspoken organizer and leader of Biharis in refugee camps that he was beaten, detained, and threatened. Thus, we reject the Government's assertion that Ahmed does not raise a claim for past persecution on account of his political opinion.