Over 1,467 Nigerians received asylum from Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board between January 2023 and March 2024.
According to The PUNCH, this brings the total number of successful asylum claims by Nigerians to 11,370 since 2012, according to data from the Refugee Protection Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada.
Refugee protection is granted in Canada when the Board determines that a claimant meets the United Nations definition of a Convention refugee, as integrated into Canadian law, or when the claimant is considered a person in need of protection.
The 1951 UN Convention on the Status of Refugees defines a refugee as someone who has a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, nationality, religion, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.
These groups can include factors such as sexual orientation, gender identity, being a woman, or living with HIV/AIDS.
Applicants for protection in Canada must provide evidence demonstrating a risk of torture, danger to life, or the likelihood of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment if they return to their home country.
Typically, these protection claims are initiated when immigrants alert the Border Services Agency upon arrival at a 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,” an application guideline by the Refugee Board reads.
Between January 2023 and March 2024, the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) of Canada rejected 589 asylum applications from Nigerian nationals, bringing the total number of rejections since January 2013 to over 12,600.
The data reveals that 20, 308, 394, and 389 Nigerians were granted asylum in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015, respectively.
In 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019, 389, 764, 755, and 1,733 Nigerians were granted protection. The numbers continued with 1,534 in 2020, 2,302 in 2021, and 1,315 in 2022. Additionally, 1,086 Nigerians were accepted for protection in 2023, with 381 accepted in the first quarter of 2024.
In an interview with The PUNCH, the , Executive Director of the Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation, Imaobong Ladipo-Sanusi, described the acceptance rate as fair.
She noted that irregular migration is often a significant factor leading to rejections.
