114 Nigerians who requested for refugee status between January and June 2023, according to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, were denied.
Since the program’s inception in January 2013, 12,035 Nigerians have been turned away, according to information from the IRBC’s Refugee Protection Division.
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The IRB awards refugee status in Canada if the RPD properly certifies that an applicant or claimant satisfies 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 on the Status of Refugees defines refugees as persons with 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, the letter stated that those requesting shelter in Canada must provide proof that doing so would put them in danger of being tortured, killed, or subjected to harsh or unusual punishment or treatment if they went back to their home country.
It was discovered that protection claims are submitted by immigrants when they report to an immigration officer or contact the Border Services Agency at any port of entry upon arrival in Canada.
“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.
However, the RPD has rejected about 12,035 such applications from Nigerians for a decade and six months.
The breakdown showed that 127, 241, and 248 Nigerians were denied protection in 2013, 2014, and 2015 respectively, under the new system for determining refugee protection claims made in Canada – which took effect on December 15, 2012.
Also, 476, 917, and 1,777 claims were rejected in 2016, 2017, and 2018 respectively.
2019 saw the highest rejected claims so far, with 3,951 Nigerian applicants turned down, while 1,770, 1,686, and 728 persons were denied protection in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
Nevertheless, 9,783 Nigerians were granted refugee status within the period under review. There were 20 in 2012; 308 in 2013, 394 in 2014 and 389 in 2015. Also, 389 Nigerians were received in 2016, 764 in 2017, 755 in 2018, and 1,733 in 2019. While 2020, 2021, and 2022 saw 1,534, 2,302, and 1,315 persons granted protection, respectively. 289 Nigerians have been accepted for protection in the first six months of 2023.
As of June 2023, 2,198 applications were pending, as at least 432 persons had withdrawn their refugee claims.
