Nigeria and Canada recently resolved to deepen bilateral relation in the areas of Trade and Commerce, education, security as well as Science and space technology.
The Canadian Gov.-General, Julie Payette, disclosed this when she addressed newsmen after a closed door meeting with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, in Abuja, Nigeria. But at the same time the Canadian government has adopted new immigration policy that spells trouble for Nigerian migrants. As reported by Samson Toromade in The Pulse.
The Canadian government has adopted a new immigration policy that would adversely affect the chances of immigrants who are seeking asylum in the country after illegally crossing through the United States border.
Nigerians notoriously make up a sizable majority of thousands of people who have walked into Canada from the United States to file refugee claims since January 2017.
The trend worried the Canadian government so much that two officials were sent to Lagos earlier this year to work directly with their counterparts in the U.S. visa office to collaborate on how to lower the number of migrants who make asylum claims in Canada using a U.S. visa.
This was because many of the Nigerian asylum seekers in Canada were observed to have arrived bearing valid U.S. visas after having spent very little time in the States.
According to an exclusive story by Reuters, the Canadian government has adopted a new stringent policy to deal with asylum seekers who illegally enter the country across the U.S. border.
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), the agency responsible for deportations, disclosed to Reuters that it now classifies border-crossers with criminals as a top deportation priority.
This means quicker processing and deportation of people who crossed the border, unlike in the past when claimants could live in Canada for years while their applications were processed.
Toronto lawyer Lorne Waldman believes that the new policy would easily deter asylum seekers with weak claims from crossing into the country.
“The best way of discouraging people from making frivolous claims is by having the claims processed quickly,” Waldman said.