Between January 2013 and December 2022, the Canadian government turned down at least 11,921 asylum applications from Nigerians. This is based on information acquired from the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada’s Refugee Protection Division during the reporting period.
If the RPD adequately verifies that a candidate or claimant satisfies the UN definition of a Convention refugee, the IMRB awards refugee status in Canada.
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or that the applicant is a person in need of protection, “which has been incorporated into Canadian law.”
The 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees defines refugees as persons who have a substantiated fear of persecution because of their race, nationality, religion, political ideology, or membership in a particular social group.
Such social groups can include sexual orientation, gender identity, being a woman, and persons living with HIV/AIDS.
However, persons asking for protection in Canada must show evidence portending the danger of torture. They can also show that their life is at risk. Furthermore, if they’re at risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment should they return to their country of nationality.
Typically, such protection claims are made when immigrants notify the Border Services Agency at any port of entry upon arriving in Canada 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.
However, the RPD has rejected about 12,000 such applications from Nigerians in the past decade.
The breakdown showed that 127, 241, and 248 Nigerians were denied protection in 2013, 2014, and 2015 respectively. This was under the new system for determining refugee protection claims made in Canada—which took effect on December 15, 2012.
It also showed that 476, 917, and 1,777 claims were rejected in 2016, 2017, and 2018 respectively.
The highest rejected claims yet were recorded in 2019, with 3,951 Nigerian applicants turned down. Furthermore, 1,770, 1,686, and 728 persons were denied protection in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
Nevertheless, a total of 9,494 Nigerians were granted refugee status within the decade under review.
