Canada denies 13,000 Nigerians refugee status

Over 13,000 Nigerians who applied for refugee protection in Canada from January 2013 to December 2024 were rejected.

According to data from the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, this figure includes 811 Nigerians whose applications were turned down in 2024.

The board placed Nigeria among the top five countries with the most rejected claims.

Mexico tops the list with 2,954 rejections, followed by India and Haiti, which have 1,688 and 982 rejected claims, respectively.

Colombia is in fourth place with 723 rejected claims, while Nigeria is in fifth place with 13,171 rejections.

In Canada, asylum seekers get refugee protection if the RPD satisfactorily confirms that their claims meet the United Nations definition of a Convention refugee.

In its definition of the Status of Refugee, the 1951 UN Convention states refugees are persons who have a substantiated fear of persecution because of their race, nationality, religion, political ideology or membership in a particular social group, which can include sexual orientation, gender identity, being a woman and persons living with HIV/AIDS.

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However, in Canada, asylum seekers are expected to show evidence that they are in danger of torture, risk to their life or risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment if they return to their country of nationality.

According to the Refugee Board’s application guideline, if an applicant’s “claim is eligible, it is sent to the RPD to start the claim for refugee protection process.”

The breakdown of the rejections showed that 127 Nigerian claims were rejected in 2013, 241 in 2014 and 248 in 2015.

Canada denies 13,000 Nigerians refugee status

Nurse punished in UK for addressing convicted transgender paedophile as ‘Mr’

A senior nurse in the UK is battling to save her career after facing disciplinary action for refusing to refer to a convicted child sex offender as a woman.

Jennifer Melle, 40, from Croydon, was working at Epsom and St Helier University Hospital Trust when she declined to use female pronouns for a paedophile known as ‘Mr X,’ per report from the London Standard.

The offender, currently serving time in a high-security male prison, was jailed for grooming boys online while posing as a teenage girl.

Gaza: Iran begins talks with S’Arabia, Egypt as Israel renews attacks

Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Saturday exchanged views with his Saudi Arabian and Egyptian counterparts on Israel’s renewed attacks on Gaza.

In a phone conversation with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Araghchi strongly condemned Israel’s attacks in Gaza, and urged other countries in the region to take collective action, said the Iranian Foreign Ministry in a statement.

For his part, Faisal reaffirmed Saudi Arabia’s condemnation of Israeli aggressions and emphasized regional coordination to prevent further escalation.

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In a separate phone call with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Araghchi condemned Israel’s renewed attacks on Gaza as well as obstruction of humanitarian aid delivery to the Palestinian coastal enclave “in flagrant violation” of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas.

The Egyptian foreign minister underscored the need for consultations and diplomatic efforts to prevent further escalation.

Both Egyptian and Iranian ministers agreed to maintain consultations on regional developments.

Gaza: Iran begins talks with S’Arabia, Egypt as Israel renews attacks

Xinhua