Nigeria makes the list of top 20 nationalities claiming asylum in the UK

A recent UK Home Office Data names Nigeria as among the top 20 nationalities claiming asylum in the UK. The data, which covers the period of 2010 to September 2024 shows that Nigeria is the 18th top nationality claiming asylum in the UK and the third in Africa, following Sudan and Eritrea.
Although Nigeria has always made the list of nationalities claiming asylum in the UK, the September 2024 number of 1,597 is a record high number, from the previous 2016 height of 1,158 asylum applications. For context, the data from 2010 to September 2024 shows the following: it was 798 applications in 2010; 732 in 2011; 959 in 2012; 931 in 2013; 899 in 2014; 917 in 2015; 1,158 in 2016; 1048 in 2017, 839 in 2018; 937 in 2019; 647 in 2020; 690 in 2021; 839 in 2022; 900 in 2023 and 1596 in September 2024.
There are numerous factors compelling individuals to flee their country of nationality. These “push factors” may include political turmoil, armed conflict, or severe human rights violations. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) defines a refugee as “someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war, or violence.” Such individuals must have a “well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.” Refugees typically cannot return home or are afraid to do so. War, as well as ethnic, tribal, and religious violence, are primary causes of people fleeing their countries.
In modern times, those seeking asylum fall into a broader range of reasons than those traditionally used to define refugees. Factors such as hunger, poverty, and economic hardship – which more aptly categorize individuals as economic migrants-now drive immigration, even from relatively safe countries where return would not attract significant attention. However, since these would hardly qualify them for asylum, asylum seekers, irrespective of their individual push factor, yet claim asylum on allegation of political persecution, fear of violence or human rights violations.  
For example, the severe human rights violations and conflicts in Eritrea and the civil war in Sudan likely account for the respective asylum-seeker numbers of 3,472 and 3,762 from these countries.
In Nigeria’s case, attributing the high numbers of asylum claims purely to conflict or severe human rights violations is more complex. Economic hardship and issues such as sexual orientation appear to be driving factors. The unprecedented rise in poverty and economic struggles in 2024 likely plays a significant role in the record-breaking number of asylum claims, making it challenging to link these figures solely to armed conflict or egregious human rights abuses.