At least 36,934 Nigerians submitted asylum applications across various countries in 2024, figures released by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have shown.
Canada, Italy, and the United Kingdom ranked as the top destinations for Nigerian asylum seekers. Yet, only a fraction of the requests were granted, as 74 per cent of the applications were rejected overall.
The data also indicated that Chad and Tunisia recorded the highest acceptance rates for Nigerian applicants.
Asylum is a formal request for international protection by individuals fleeing persecution, life-threatening conditions, or severe insecurity in their home country. Under international conventions, applicants are entitled to protection until their claims are reviewed. Approval is generally tied to criteria such as race, religion, political views, nationality, or membership of a particular social group.
According to the UNHCR data, Canada received the highest number of applications, with 13,222 Nigerians seeking refuge. Of these, only 2,196 were approved. In Italy, 4,292 applied, but just 650 were successful, while the United Kingdom approved 446 out of 2,841 applications.
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Other destinations included Ireland, which had 4,037 Nigerian applications, and the United States, where 2,827 filed claims but only 84 were granted. Nigerians also sought asylum in countries such as Germany, France, the Netherlands, Egypt, Cameroon, Belgium, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, and South Africa, among others.
Former Nigerian Ambassador to Singapore, Ogbole Amedu-Ode, linked the spike in applications to economic challenges back home.
“The urge to travel out of the country is primarily a function of the performance of our national economy. The economic doldrums have pushed compatriots to get into the Japa mode,” he explained.
“The trend may, unfortunately, increase until there’s a turnaround in the performance of the national economy.”
This latest UNHCR report follows an earlier analysis by Statisense, which noted that between 2016 and 2023, more than 600,000 Nigerians sought asylum abroad during the years of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
The data showed that 355,792 applied between 2016 and 2019, while 308,592 filed applications between 2020 and 2023.
