Sinha

ORDER

The opinion filed on February 10, 2009, is hereby amended. With the filing of the amended opinion, the panel has voted to grant Respondent’s motion to amend in part. The time for filing petitions for rehearing has now expired. The mandate in No. 04-73843 shall issue forthwith. The panel retains jurisdiction over No. 07-72289.

OPINION

Petitioner Navin Sinha and his wife, Petitioner Priti Praveena Singh, are ethnic Indians and citizens of Fiji. In 2001, Sinha submitted an application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) for himself and, derivatively, his wife Singh. The Immigration Judge (IJ) denied all relief, and the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) adopted and affirmed that decision. Petitioners appear before this Court to challenge the BIA’s dismissal of their appeal, and also to contest the BIA’s denial of their subsequently-filed motion to re open, based on changed country conditions. We grant the petition for review on the removal order and order the motion to reopen held in abeyance.

I. BACKGROUND

Sinha’s claims for asylum and for withholding of removal are based upon his alleged past persecution and his fear…