Official data has revealed that 13,171 Nigerians who sought refugee protection in Canada between January 2013 and December 2024 were denied.
In 2024 alone, the Canadian government rejected 811 Nigerian asylum applications, according to the data.
This development comes as official figures from the Refugee Protection Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) place Nigeria among the top five countries with the most rejected claims, ranking 5th.
Other countries in the top five include Mexico, with 2,954 rejections; India, with 1,688; Haiti, with 982; and Colombia, with 723.
A breakdown of the rejections since 2013 shows that 127, 241, and 248 Nigerians were denied protection in 2013, 2014, and 2015, respectively, under the new system for determining refugee protection claims in Canada, which was implemented on December 15, 2012.
In subsequent years, the number of rejections increased, with 476 claims rejected in 2016, 917 in 2017, and 1,777 in 2018. The highest number of rejections occurred in 2019, with 3,951 Nigerian applicants turned down.
The IRB grants refugee protection in Canada if the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) confirms that an applicant meets the United Nations definition of a Convention refugee, as incorporated into Canadian law, or if the applicant is deemed a person in need of protection. Once a claim is determined eligible, it is referred to the RPD for further processing.
Despite the rejections, 10,580 Nigerians were granted refugee status over the past decade, with at least 2,230 granted asylum between January and December 2024.
