News
Canada deports more people, particularly those rejected for refugee status
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
Canada deported more people last year to hit its highest annual level of removals in about a decade, overwhelmingly deporting people whose refugee claims were rejected, data obtained by Reuters showed.
By late November, Canada’s removal numbers had reached their highest point since at least 2015, when the governing Liberals led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came to power
The government has also budgeted more money for deportations this year.
Trudeau’s government, now in its final days, has sought to show Canadians it is getting tough on immigration amid a rising backlog of refugee claims and a backlash against immigrants over concerns that immigration is exacerbating a housing shortage.
Canada’s border agency said the spike in deportations is tied to a “significant increase” in the number of people applying for asylum since 2020, prompting it “to enforce removal orders in a more efficient and timely manner.”
Reuters requested border agency data on deportations, excluding people who left of their own accord and those sent back to the United States as part of a bilateral agreement under which would-be asylum-seekers are turned back.
The remaining total shows Canada deported 7,300 people between January 1 and November 19, 2024, an 8.4% increase over all of 2023 and a 95% increase over 2022.
The border agency did not provide equivalent figures for all of 2024. This week, it posted data online from 2019 to 2024 that do not break down deportations excluding returns to the US under that bilateral agreement. This data also showed an increase in the number of deportations.
About 79% of the 7,300 people deported in the first 11 months of last year were deported because their claim for refugee status had been rejected. That is up from about 75% in 2023 and 66% in 2022.
About 11% of the people deported last year through November 19 were removed for non-compliance with the conditions of their stay in Canada unrelated to a refugee claim, for example, for overstaying a visa. About 7% were deported because they had committed a crime either in Canada or elsewhere.
A spokesperson for Public Safety Minister David McGuinty did not immediately respond to questions about the deportations.
A spokesperson for the border agency said in an email that removal numbers fluctuate.
“The number of removals of those who received a negative asylum determination have increased each year since emerging from the pandemic,” wrote the spokesperson, Luke Reimer.
“These efforts are essential in maintaining the integrity of Canada’s asylum system.”
Canada has been dealing with record numbers of refugee claims, although the monthly totals dropped to 11,838 in January from 19,821 in July. There were 278,457 claims pending as of last month – the highest pending total in decades.
A campaign flag for US President Donald Trump flutters from a private residence between the Canada and US border in Mooers Forks, New York, US, Feb 4, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
MORE MONEY FOR DEPORTATIONS
One concern with these removals, especially those targeting failed refugee claimants, is that people can be deported while still appealing decisions about the risk they face if returned to their home countries, said Aisling Bondy, president of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers.
“They could be removed even if there is significant error in the risk determination,” she said, worrying people are being deported to places they will face persecution.
Reimer said in an email that the agency “only actions a removal order once all legal avenues of recourse that can stay a removal have been exhausted.”
The rise in refugee claimant deportations speaks to the government’s priorities, including a tough stance on migration, said University of Toronto law professor and Human Rights Chair Audrey Macklin.
“You can decide that you want to make a show of how many people you are deporting to show that you are effective at policing the border,” Macklin said. “Then you go with people who are easier to find and remove, and those are going to be, often, refugee claimants.”
he prospect of deportation could also deter would-be refugee claimants, she said.
Canada is on track to deport even more people in the coming years: Late last year, the government pledged C$30.5 million ($21.3 million) over three years to increase deportations.
Canada Border Services Agency spent C$65.8 million on removals in 2023-24, up from C$56 million the year before.
At the same time, Canada has pledged C$1.3 billion toward border security to appease US President Donald Trump as he threatens sweeping tariffs on Canadian imports.
The ranks of those eligible for deportation could grow.
Canada is slashing temporary and permanent immigrant numbers and part of its plan relies on more than 1.2 million temporary residents, including workers and students, leaving the country next year, and another 1.1 million leaving the following year, according to government figures.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller has said Canada will deport people who do not leave on their own.
“It is people’s choice not to leave, and if they don’t, they face the consequences – including, after due process, deportation,” he told Reuters last year.
Japa on reverse lane as the United States Department of Homeland Security, DHS, has updated its list of Nigerians facing removal from the country, reducing the number to 112 and publishing their names and photographs online.
The latest list features Nigerians from different parts of the country and was published through the DHS official website.
Among those listed are Cletus Onyali, Olaolu Alabi, Marcus Unigwe, Mkpouto Etukudoh, Blessing Uchanma, Olaniyi Ojikutu, Richard Ugbah, Oluwamuyiwa Olawoye, Anthony Asanya and Ebele Agbasiele
Others identified on the list include Izuchukwu Okoye, Olufemi Olufisayo Olutiola, Abiemwense Obanor, Chibuzo Nwaonu, Oluchi Jennifer Chimdimma Chime, Ifeanyi Okoro, Oluwaseun Kassim, Quazeem Adeyinka and Talatu Dada.
The complete list contains 112 names, with the photographs and details of the other individuals available through the DHS online portal.
The publication comes amid stepped-up immigration enforcement by the US government, particularly involving undocumented immigrants and individuals with outstanding removal orders.
It also comes against the backdrop of efforts by US authorities to obtain increased cooperation from foreign governments in receiving their nationals who have been ordered to leave the United States.
Nigeria has previously faced pressure from the US over the repatriation of its nationals subject to deportation.
The updated publication provides public access to the identities and photographs of the Nigerians currently identified by DHS for removal from the United States.
The Department of State Services, DSS, on Thursday re-arraigned five men accused of complicity in the May 15 kidnap of pupils and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State and the subsequent killing of two of the victims.
They were arraigned on a seven-count amended charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/438/2026, filed by the DSS on behalf of the Federal Government.
The defendants, accused of being members of the Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina fi-Biladis Sudan (ANSARU) terrorist group, are Mahmud Muhammad (aka Abu Bara’a, Abbas Mukhtar); Abubakar Abbas (aka Isah Adam, Mallam Mahmuda Al-Nigeri); Abdulrazak Umar (aka Abu Khalifa/Abu Khalid); Yunusa Musa (aka Abu Yunusa Bin Musa); and Shamsu Adamu Sani (aka Abu Itisar).
All five defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were read to them by the Registrar of the court.
The Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation (DPPF), Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, who led the DSS legal team, applied for the immediate trial of the defendants in line with the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.
He also applied for the names of witnesses lined up to testify in the trial to be shielded and for them to be permitted to wear masks to ensure their protection.
Following no objection from counsel to the defendants, Bala Dakum, Justice Salim Ibrahim granted the request of the DSS counsel.
At the time of filing this report, arrangements for the full-scale trial were being put in place.
LAGOS — A post-mortem examination conducted by the Department of Pathology and Forensic Medicine at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) has confirmed that 20-year-old journalist Pelumi Onifade died from a penetrating firearm injury to the abdomen.
The finding is contained in a six-page autopsy report dated July 30, 2026, and submitted to the Lagos State Coroner’s Court investigating the circumstances surrounding the young journalist’s death during the October 2020 #EndSARS protests.
According to the report, Onifade died from massive haemoperitoneum, a severe accumulation of blood in the abdominal cavity, caused by a high-velocity projectile that penetrated his abdomen.
The forensic finding provides medical evidence establishing a gunshot injury as the cause of death, while the circumstances surrounding who fired the shot and the events that followed remain matters before the coroner’s proceedings.
How Onifade Died
Onifade was a 200-level History student of Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED) and worked as an intern reporter with Gboah TV, a Lagos-based online news platform.
On October 24, 2020, during the nationwide #EndSARS protests against police brutality, he was assigned to cover an attempted looting at a government palliative storage facility in the Abattoir area of Oko-Oba, Agege, Lagos.
According to accounts presented by his family and colleagues, Onifade was wearing a press jacket and carrying reporting equipment when officers attached to the Lagos State Task Force opened fire while attempting to disperse the crowd.
He was reportedly struck by a bullet and subsequently taken away in a police van, commonly referred to as a Black Maria.
A colleague who was with him at the scene reportedly attempted to identify him as a journalist and explain that he was carrying camera equipment, but those efforts were unsuccessful.
Onifade was not seen alive again after that incident.
Family Searched Police Stations, Hospitals
Following his disappearance, his family and colleagues searched police stations, detention facilities and hospitals across Lagos in an attempt to establish his whereabouts.
According to the family, police authorities denied having him in custody.
Six days later, on October 30, 2020, the family located his body at the mortuary of Ikorodu General Hospital, where it had been registered as a “brought-in-dead” case under body number 1385.
The discovery triggered years of demands for an independent investigation into how the young journalist died and how his remains ended up in the mortuary.
DNA Test Identified the Body
The identity of the body was subsequently confirmed through forensic DNA testing.
Results from the Lagos State DNA and Forensic Centre established a match between the unidentified body bearing tag number 1385 and reference samples obtained from Onifade’s parents.
The DNA confirmation provided a crucial breakthrough after years of uncertainty surrounding the whereabouts and identity of the missing journalist.
Court Ordered Coroner’s Inquest
The search for accountability later moved into the courts.
In July 2024, Justice Ayokunle Olayinka Faji of the Federal High Court in Lagos ordered the Lagos State Government and the police to conduct a coroner’s inquest into Onifade’s death.
The objective of the inquest is to establish the circumstances surrounding his death and determine the facts surrounding the actions of the security personnel involved.
The ongoing proceedings before the Lagos State Coroner’s Court are being presided over by Magistrate Temitope Oladele.
Following the submission of the post-mortem report, the court has directed key witnesses, including police personnel who were on duty in the Oko-Oba area on October 24, 2020, to appear and testify.
Rights Groups Demand Accountability
Media Rights Agenda (MRA), which has supported the Onifade family in its legal efforts, has described the post-mortem findings as significant evidence in the case.
Rights activists, journalist unions, and the deceased’s family continue to demand the public prosecution of the police officers who fired the shot and those who supervised the deployment during the Lagos #EndSARS demonstrations.
Japa on reverse lane as US releases names, photos of 112 Nigerians on deportation list
Oyo kidnap: Five defendants plead not guilty to seven count charges
Autopsy Confirms #EndSARS Journalist Pelumi Onifade Died From Gunshot Wound
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