According to the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada’s data, the government of Canada declined no fewer than 11,921 Nigerians who applied for refugee protection between January 2013 and December 2022.
The Immigration and Refugee Board grants refugee protection in Canada if the RPD confirms that a claimant or 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 clearly defines refugees as persons that have a substantiated fear of persecution due to their race, nationality, religion, political ideology, or membership in a particular social group.
Such social groups include sexual orientation, gender identity, being a woman, and persons living with HIV/AIDS.
Meanwhile, persons requesting protection in Canada have to tender evidence portending the danger of torture, a risk to their life, or risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment if they go back to their country.
Normally, such protection claims are made when immigrants inform the Border Services Agency at any port of entry upon arrival in Canada or report to an immigration officer.
According to an application guideline by the Refugee Board, “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.”
The RPD has however rejected about 12,000 applications from Nigerians in the last ten years.
The breakdown revealed that 127, 241, and 248 Nigerians were denied protection in 2013, 2014, and 2015 respectively, under the current system for determining refugee protection claims made in Canada—which was implemented on December 15, 2012.
Also, it showed that 476, 917, and 1,777 claims were denied in 2016, 2017, and 2018 respectively.
The highest rejected claims occurred in 2019, with 3,951 Nigerian applicants denied, while 1,770, 1,686, and 728 persons were denied protection in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
Meanwhile, a total of 9,494 Nigerians were granted refugee status in the last ten years.
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