Home Special Report Report Says Nigerians Are Second Leading Citizens Seeking Asylum In Canada

Report Says Nigerians Are Second Leading Citizens Seeking Asylum In Canada

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Canada

A report from the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has revealed that Nigerians took the second place among nationals of countries seeking asylum in Canada in 2017.

The report, according to a chart on CNN on Friday, revealed that no fewer than 6,005 Nigerians applied for asylum in Canada last year, which was about four times the 1,495 Nigerians who sought asylum in the North American country in 2016.

According to the report, Haiti topped the chart with 7,785 applicants in 2017 and a distant 620 in 2016, while United States came third with 2,550 applicants in 2017 and 395 in 2016.

Meanwhile, outside the legal applicants, there are indications that many more Nigerians have explored the illegal route of crossing into Canada at its southern border with the United States.

BBC had reported in May that Canadian immigration officials were working with their US counterparts to stem the rising immigrants.

The report indicated that in 2017 alone, more than 20,500 migrants crossed illegally into Canada at the US border to seek asylum, which represented about 40 per cent of total claims.

“In the first three months of this year, over half the 5,052 asylum claims by those who crossed the border were Nigerian nationals and most had valid US visas,” it said.

Meanwhile, Canadian officials told CNN that while Canada remains an open, welcoming country, crossing into it is not “a ticket for permanent residence.”

“Coming to Canada, asking for asylum in Canada is not a guarantee for permanent residence in Canada,” Louis Dumas, a spokesperson for the immigration ministry, said in 2017.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said further that minors sometimes accompany adults to the country.

There were fears that Nigerians seeking asylum in Canada may now face a hard time following a ruling by Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board in May rejecting the asylum claim of a Nigerian woman who fled her home to allegedly escape the practice of female genital mutilation.

The tribunal said she could have sought refuge in the large Nigerian cities of Ibadan or Port Harcourt, away from her rural family home.

A group of Canadian refugee lawyers had described the ruling by a tribunal as unfair to Nigerian asylum seekers.

Credit: punchng.com

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