At least 331 Nigerians have applied for asylum in Iceland since 2020, according to official statistics released by the country’s Directorate of Immigration, Útlendingastofnun.
Data from the agency’s annual workbook, Tölfræði verndarsviðs, reveals a steady rise in applications over the years: 37 in 2020, 50 in 2021, 67 in 2022, peaking at 125 in 2023, and 52 already filed between January and May 2024.
Following the clearance of Iceland’s 2019 asylum backlog, 96 Nigerian cases were reviewed in 2020. Of these, 44 applicants received residence permits, three were granted full refugee status, and 41 were offered humanitarian visas. Another 37 were denied outright, while the rest were administratively closed under the Dublin Regulation—which transfers asylum seekers to the first Schengen country they entered.
In 2021, the approval rate plummeted to five percent. Only three Nigerians received refugee status, while 14 were rejected and 43 redirected to other countries under Dublin rules. Iceland, a small Nordic state, increasingly leaned on this EU mechanism to shift responsibility.
By 2022, the approval figures improved slightly. Of 76 cases decided that year, 22 permits were granted—two refugee and 20 humanitarian. In contrast, 28 were rejected and 26 rerouted.
The humanitarian leave granted to many Nigerian applicants is typically valid for just one year—short of full convention refugee status.
The year 2023 saw a surge in applications, driven by post-COVID travel and tightening UK visa rules. Yet, only one applicant received refugee status and 22 others got humanitarian leave. A notable 108 cases were closed without assessment.
In early 2024, applications declined to 52, with the Directorate closing 149 Nigerian files in that five-month span, much of it due to leftover backlogs and a new screening policy that mirrored Sweden’s stricter standards.
While Nigerians remain the largest West African nationality seeking asylum in Iceland, Somalis and Eritreans still lead among African applicants due to stronger existing diasporas and higher approval rates. Other African nations like Sudan, Ethiopia, and DR Congo trail with fewer than a dozen applications annually.
The top ten nationalities receiving protection in Iceland include Syria, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Eritrea, Nigeria, Russia, and Georgia. However, Georgian and Russian applicants face the highest rejection rates, followed by Iraqis.
Due to its limited capacity—Iceland handles only about 1,500 asylum claims per year—officials warned that any surge, like in late 2023, could strain resources. In November, the Ministry of Social Affairs requested emergency funding after reaching housing capacity, with Nigerians accounting for about 20 percent of those in need of accommodation.
Former Nigerian Ambassador to Singapore, Ogbole Amedu-Ode, linked the rising asylum trend to Nigeria’s ongoing economic troubles.
“The urge to travel out of the country is in itself, primarily, a function of the performance of our national economy,” he said.
“The economic doldrums have pushed compatriots to get into the Japa mode. The trend may, unfortunately, increase until there’s a turnaround in the performance of the national economy.”
The Icelandic Directorate of Immigration processes asylum cases under the country’s Foreign Nationals Act (Act 80/2016), aligning with the 1951 Refugee Convention and EU directives.
