10-3327 Stanojkova v. Holder

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Immigration
Macedonia

It was error for the BIA to conclude that, in 2001, members of the Albanian minority were not persecuted in Macedonia.

“The statement that there is no evidence of human rights abuses by the Macedonian army in 2001 ignores the State Department’s country report, though the report was not contradicted. (The member of the Board of Immigration Appeals who reviewed the judge’s decision missed the error, glaring though it was.) What the immigration judge meant when he said ‘it is not entirely clear what Mr. Naumov was reporting to’ we can’t fathom; nor his reference to Naumov’s ‘being forced to fight against other countries.’ The Board member made no attempt at clarification.”

“However, the Albanian insurrection in Macedonia is now a decade in the past; Macedonia is a candidate for EU membership; and although misconduct by Macedonian police is by no means entirely a thing of the past, see U.S. Dept. of State, ‘2009 Human Rights Report: Macedonia,’ March 11, 2010, www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2009/eur/ 136044.htm (visited June 29, 2011), there appears to be much less than at the time of the assaults against the Naumovs; the contrast between the 2010 and 2003 State Department country reports is striking. There may well be less than a 50 percent probability that the Naumovs would be persecuted if returned to Macedonia, which, as noted earlier in this opinion, is the ultimate issue in a withholding of removal case. But changed conditions and the risk of future persecution were not addressed by the Board or the immigration judge, and remain for consideration on remand.”

Petition Granted.

10-3327 Stanojkova v. Holder

Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals, Posner, J.

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