Canada's New Policy Affects Nigerian Immigrants

Nigerians make up a significant percentage of the thousands of people who cross into Canada from the United States seeking asylum. Since January 2017, there have been over 7,600 Nigerians who have entered Canada from the US. The trend started increasing at an alarming rate so much that the Canada government became so worried about it that they sent two officials earlier in the year to Lagos to liaise with the officials in the US embassy. They were to put heads together to come up with ideas on how to cut down the rate at which Nigerians who have US visas cross into Canada seeking asylum. They took this step because surprisingly, about 81% of the Nigerian nationals who are in Canada seeking asylum have valid US visas. Reuters published an exclusive story, revealing that the government of Canada has adopted a new policy that will address the issue of asylum seekers who illegally cross into the country from the US. The Canada Borders Services Agency, CBSA, for short, is the Canadian agency responsible for handling deportation matters. CBSA said that illegal immigrants now belong in the same classification with criminals and that illegal immigration now has a top deportation priority. By this, illegal immigrants won't have to wait for long before they are deported, unlike before when they were allowed to stay in Canada for years, awaiting the processing of their applications. Lorne Waldman, a lawyer, based in Toronto said that this new policy is going to discourage asylum seekers whose claims are not strong from entering into the country.

Is this bad news for Nigerians?

The Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, CARL for short, sued the Canadian government to court over a recent ruling of the court which they claimed would make it difficult for Nigerians to find refuge in Canada. The group was particularly displeased over the refusal of the country's Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) to grant asylum to a Nigerian woman. According to the woman's story, she left Nigeria, to escape being a victim of female genital mutilation. But the court ruled that running to Canada made no sense since she could have survived to any other Nigerian city. CARL felt that the court's decision was going to make things worse for any more Nigerians seeking asylum in Canada as their acceptance rate had dropped to 33% as against the 47% success rate other nationals from other countries were enjoying. Stay connected to VisaTime to get updates about visa news from Asia, Africa, US, Americas, Australia, Europe, and the Middle East! We will also assist you with the visa process for the chosen country.