Canada rejects 13,171 Nigerians asylum

 

No fewer than 811 Nigerians who applied for refugee protection in 2024 were turned down by the Canadian government.

The figure is among the 13,171 Nigerians who sought refugee protection in Canada from January 2013 to December 2024 but were rejected.

Official data from the Refugee Protection Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada put Nigeria among the top five countries with the most rejected claims, ranking 5th.

Nigeria comes after oMexico with 2,954 rejections, India (1,688), Haiti (982), and Colombia (723).

The breakdown of the rejections showed that 127 were recorded in 2013, in 2014, a total of 241 applications from Nigeria turned down while 248 Nigerians were denied protection in 2015.

The data further revealed that 476 rejections were recorded in 2016, no fewer than 917 Nigerians were denied in 2017 while 1,777 claims were rejected in 2018.

Also on the list, 2019 saw the highest number of rejected claims, with 3,951 Nigerian applicants turned down.

Meanwhile, 1,770 (2020), 1,686 (2021), 728 (2022), 439 (2023) while 811 persons were denied protection in 2024.

Nevertheless, 10,580 Nigerians were granted refugee status within the decade under review, with at least 2,230 from January to December 2024.