The Board of Immigration Appeals has rejected the Immigration Judge’s determination that the Russian government would not protect a woman who converted from Islam to Orthodox Christianity.
“While the respondent began experiencing harm at the hands of her family as a child, this harm continued well into adulthood and the respondent still failed to report it to the authorities. As an adult the respondent traveled to different cities far away from her family, and at times lived outside of her family’s control, yet she never sought assistance or protection from the police or other authorities. Although the respondent argues that her family maintains connections with the police in her town such that reporting her harm would have been futile or dangerous, the respondent’s status as an adult, her ability to travel apart from her family, and her ability to communicate, all demonstrate that the respondent could have requested assistance from the authorities in her country.
Without any citation to the record, the respondent also argues that “record evidence” contradicts our conclusion that her conversion to Russian Orthodox Christianity makes police protection more likely. However, the respondent’s conversion makes her a member of the country’s majority religion, and the record reflects that the Russian Orthodox Church maintains a privileged status in Russia and works closely with the Russian Government. Given these facts, the respondent has not established that her family members, who practice Islam, would be able to meaningfully influence the Russian authorities.”
The full text of Matter of F-B-A- can be found here: https://www.justice.gov/eoir/media/1428266/dl?inline