India tops the list of students seeking asylum; minister questions applications

Nearly 14,000 international students in Canada have sought asylum in the first nine months of 2024, setting a record even as the number of new study permits issued during the same period significantly fell.

Data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) shows that the top source countries for these asylum claims include India, Nigeria, Ghana, Guinea, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. India is Canada’s largest source country of foreign students with an estimated 4.27 lakh Indian students studying there in 2023.

The jump in the number of asylum seekers from 13,000 in August-end to 14,000 in September-end as per statistics, coincides with the recent restrictions and caps imposed by the Canadian government on international students.

Miller attributed the surge in asylum applications partly to false claims allegedly encouraged by unscrupulous immigration consultants. Citing anecdotal evidence from departmental officials, he noted that conditions in the source countries have not changed significantly, suggesting external advice as a key driver.

“Some students appear to have been advised to file asylum claims soon after their arrival in Canada,” Miller said. “We often see these claims filed within the first year, sometimes for less valid reasons, such as lowering tuition fees to domestic rates. There’s opportunism at play, and it’s being exploited.”

Miller has requested the CICC to investigate licensed consultants who might be improperly advising international students to pursue asylum claims.

As per IRCC data, Canadian news outlet The Globe and Mail reported that international students filed 13,660 asylum claims between January 1 and September 30, 2024, surpassing around 12,000 claims made through 2023 but less than 1,810 claims in 2018. With three months of data yet to be tallied, the numbers in 2024 are expected to rise.