Mohammed

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Mohamed applied for asylum when she was seventeen years old. She claimed that she had a well-founded fear of future persecution on account of her membership in a social group — the Benadiri clan. According to Mohamed, her fam- ily fled Somalia during the civil war, when she was a young child. The flight was precipitated by the disappearance of her father and brother, the rape of her sister, and an attempt by the militia of a majority clan to imprison her family along with other members of her clan. She lived in Ethiopia for a number 1 Petitioner’s name is spelled inconsistently throughout her brief, either as “Mohammed” or “Mohamed.” Because she wrote her name with a sin- gle “m” in her signed declarations, we will use that spelling. 3068 MOHAMMED v. GONZALES of years without legal status, before arriving in the United States.

Following a hearing, the IJ denied Mohamed’s petition, finding her not credible. Alternatively, the IJ concluded that, even if she were credible, she did not demonstrate eligibility for asylum, or entitlement to withholding or to protection under CAT. The BIA affirmed the IJ’s adverse credibility…