Prunaru

MEMORANDUM **

Virgil Prunaru, a native and citizen of Romania, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) opinion affirming the decision of an Immigration Judge (IJ), denying Prunaru’s application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review the BIA’s opinion, which individually reviewed the record and did not state that it adopted the IJ’s decision, for substantial evidence. See Fedunyak v. Gonzales, 477 F.3d 1126, 1127 (9th Cir.2007), Simeonov v. Ashcroft, 371 F.3d 532, 535 (9th Cir.2004). We deny the petition for review.

To qualify for asylum, Prunaru had the burden to show that he was persecuted on account of a protected status, by demonstrating past persecution or a well-founded fear of future persecution. See 8 U.S.C. § 1101 (a)(42)(A); 8 C.F.R. 1208.13(b). Substantial evidence supports the BIA’s conclusion that the harsh treatment Prunaru experienced in the Romanian army in 1986 was not on account of his political opinion but because he attempted to avoid conscription. See Zehatye v. Gonzales, 453 F.3d 1182, 1187 (9th Cir.2006) (forced conscription or…