No fewer than 13,171 Nigerians who applied for refugee protection in Canada between January 2013 and December 2024 had their claims rejected.
This figure includes 811 Nigerians whose claims were denied in 2024 alone.
Data from the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB), Nigeria ranks among the top five countries with the highest number of rejected claims, placing 5th, Sunday PUNCH reports.
Other countries with high rejection rates include Mexico, with 2,954 rejections, India (1,688), Haiti (982), and Colombia (723).
The IRB grants refugee protection if the RPD determines that an applicant meets the United Nations definition of a Convention refugee, “which has been incorporated into Canadian law, or that the applicant is a person in need of protection.”
The 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees defines refugees as individuals with a well-founded fear of persecution due to their race, nationality, religion, political beliefs, or membership in a particular social group. These social groups can include sexual orientation, gender identity, being a woman, and individuals living with HIV/AIDS.
Applicants seeking protection must also provide evidence of the risk of torture, threats to their life, or the possibility of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment if they are forced to return to their home country.
Protection claims are typically made when immigrants notify the Border Services Agency upon arrival at any Canadian port of entry or report to an immigration officer.
“The officer decides whether the claim is eligible to be referred to the IRB. If the claim is eligible, it is sent (‘referred’) to the RPD to start the claim for refugee protection process,” according to an application guideline by the Refugee Board.
During the period under review, 94 claims from Nigerian passport holders were abandoned. The RPD explained that a claim may be abandoned if “the completed Basis of Claim Form was not provided on time, the claimant’s current and correct contact information was not provided, or the claimant did not attend their refugee protection claim hearing or the special hearing on the abandonment of the claim (if required).”
Additionally, 78 claims were withdrawn, representing cases where “the claimant does not continue with their claim,” while 19,889 claims were still pending.
A breakdown of the rejections since 2013 shows that 127, 241, and 248 Nigerians were denied refugee protection in 2013, 2014, and 2015, respectively, under the new system for determining refugee protection claims, which took effect on December 15, 2012.
Rejections rose to 476 in 2016, 917 in 2017, and 1,777 in 2018. In 2019, the highest number of Nigerian claims were denied, with 3,951 applicants rejected. The figures dropped to 1,770 in 2020, 1,686 in 2021, 728 in 2022, 439 in 2023, and 811 in 2024.
Despite the high rejection rates, 10,580 Nigerians were granted refugee status over the past decade, including at least 2,230 successful claims from January to December 2024.
Nigeria also ranked among the top 10 countries with the highest number of accepted claims, placing 8th. Other countries on the list include Turkiye (4,866), Mexico (4,363), Colombia (3,340), Iran (3,200), Pakistan (2,556), Haiti (2,211), Afghanistan (1,921), and Kenya (1,653).
Acceptance figures for Nigerians include fewer than 20 in 2013, 308 in 2014, 394 in 2015, and 389 in 2016. The numbers increased to 764 in 2017, 755 in 2018, and 1,733 in 2019. In 2020, 1,534 claims were approved, followed by 2,302 in 2021, 1,315 in 2022, and 2,230 in 2024.
