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No fewer than 36,934 Nigerians applied for asylum in foreign countries in 2024, according to data obtained from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Canada, Italy, and the United Kingdom emerged as the top destinations for Nigerian asylum seekers in 2024.
However, the data shows that 74 per cent of applications were rejected, with the highest approval rates recorded in Chad and Tunisia.
Asylum refers to a formal request for protection made in another country by individuals fleeing persecution, serious harm, or unsafe conditions in their home country.
Under international law, asylum seekers are protected until their claims are assessed, and they must meet specific criteria—often linked to race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership of a social group—to be granted refugee status.
Canada received the largest number of Nigerian applicants, with 13,222 asylum claims, but only 2,196 were approved.
In Italy, 4,292 Nigerians applied, out of which 650 were accepted.
The United Kingdom, a traditional migration destination for Nigerians seeking work and study opportunities, approved just 446 applications out of 2,841.
The data further showed that 4,037 Nigerians applied for asylum in Ireland, while 2,827 filed claims in the United States, where only 84 were accepted.
Other countries where Nigerians sought asylum include Germany, France, Egypt, the Netherlands, Cameroon, Cyprus, Belgium, Tunisia, South Korea, Chad, Spain, Sweden, Finland, Brazil, Mauritania, Austria, Portugal, Israel, South Africa, and Morocco.
Commenting on the trend, a former Nigerian Ambassador to Singapore, Ogbole Amedu-Ode, linked the surge in asylum applications to worsening economic conditions in the country.
“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 said.
“The trend may, unfortunately, increase until there’s a turnaround in the performance of the national economy.”
In july last year, The PUNCH reported that over 600,000 Nigerians filed for asylum in other countries between 2016 and 2023, which were years under the administration of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari..
According to a report released on, July 17, 2024 by Statisense, a data collection organisation, of a total of 664,384 in eight years, 355,792 persons sought asylum between 2016 and 2019 while 308,592 sought asylum between 2020 and 2023.
