In 2019 alone, 12,595 Nigerians were issued Permanent residence permits by the Canadian Govt.
In fact, Nigeria is set to end 2020 with the highest number of finalized asylum claims (i.e claims that were either accepted, rejected, abandoned, or withdrawn) to Canada for the fourth straight year. Nigeria’s hold on the top spot is despite a major slowdown in asylum claim rates given global travel restrictions in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Canada recently announced plans to welcome an additional 1.2 million immigrants over the next three years. Indeed, for many Nigerians, moving to Canada is also predicated on opening up increased educational and life opportunities for their children. In 2018, Nigeria overtook India as the country with the highest number of people living in extreme poverty.
With refugee protection claims typically based on allegations of persecution in a person’s home country, a range of factors have seen Nigerians jump to the front of the queue, including persecution based on religion and segxwal orientation. With homosegxwality still criminalized under Nigerian law, it has become an oft-cited reason for Nigerian asylum seekers in Canada: between 2013 to 2017, Nigerians made up about 25% of claims based on segxwal orientation.
But the high rate of LGBT-related claims from Nigeria (60% of Nigerians seeking asylum in that period claimed to be bisegxwal compared to an average of 12% for other nationals) has raised questions that some of the claims may be fabricated.
Political persecution is also emerging as a factor driving these claims as well, especially in the wake of high-profile protests against police brutality in Nigeria. As several reports and incidents suggest that the Nigerian government is cracking down on the recent EndSARS protest organizers, there has been a spike in local interest in Canada’s refugee protection programs—enough to force the country’s High Commission to Nigeria to clarify the proper channels for seeking these claims.
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