A total of 6,704 Nigerians applied for international protection in Cyprus between 2021 and 2025, according to the latest country report published by the Asylum Information Database (AIDA).
The report, a project of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE), was compiled using data from Cyprus’s Asylum Service and the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA).
The cumulative figure, drawn from AIDA’s Cyprus Country Reports covering 2021 through 2025, places Nigeria among the most consistent sources of asylum seekers to the Mediterranean island nation during the period under review.
However, asylum applications from Nigerians declined significantly over the years, dropping by about 70 per cent between 2022 and 2025.
Data from the reports show that Cyprus recorded 1,555 Nigerian asylum applicants in 2021, rising sharply to 3,148 in 2022 before falling to 1,019 in 2023, 554 in 2024 and 428 in 2025 — the lowest figure recorded within the five-year period.
The 2025 report indicated that 565 Nigerians were affected by asylum-related decisions during the year. Of these, only 270 were processed as in-merit decisions, while 546 were categorised as overall rejections. The report noted that this category includes inadmissibility decisions, withdrawals and closed files.
Out of the 546 rejection decisions, 254 were classified as strict in-merit rejections.
Only 11 Nigerians were granted refugee status in 2025, while five received subsidiary protection. This translated to an overall protection rate of 0.16 per cent and an in-merit protection rate of 0.36 per cent, among the lowest recorded for major nationalities in the dataset.
In 2021, Cyprus received 1,555 asylum applications from Nigerians. During the same year, nine applicants were granted refugee status, none received subsidiary protection, and 498 applications were rejected, representing a rejection rate of 98.2 per cent.
The trend continued in 2022 when Nigerians submitted 3,148 applications. Only 11 applicants secured refugee status, while none received subsidiary protection. A total of 670 applications were rejected, resulting in a rejection rate of 98.4 per cent.
In 2023, the rejection rate remained unchanged at 98.4 per cent. Out of 1,019 Nigerian applicants, 43 were granted refugee status and two received subsidiary protection. The year also saw a backlog of 2,816 pending decisions.
By 2024, 554 new applications were added to 288 cases already awaiting determination, bringing the total number of decisions to 995. Of these, only 77 resulted in refugee status grants.
Throughout the review period, Nigeria consistently ranked among Cyprus’s top four countries of origin for asylum seekers, alongside Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Cameroon, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Syria recorded the highest number of asylum applications in every year except 2025, when many Syrians reportedly chose to remain in their home country following the fall of the Assad regime.
The DRC and Cameroon regularly featured among the leading source countries, while applicants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and India accounted for a significant share of appeals following rejected asylum claims.
According to the 2023 report, “the top five nationalities registering an appeal were Nigeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Nepal” under the regular procedure before Cyprus’s International Protection Administrative Court.
In 2024, Nigerians lodged 1,241 appeals — the highest number among all nationalities that year. The appeal-stage rejection rate stood at 7.63 per cent, while no Nigerian applicant obtained refugee recognition through the appeals process.
In 2025, Nigerians filed 411 appeals, second only to the 1,394 appeals submitted by applicants from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Cyprus designated Nigeria a “safe country of origin” in 2021, alongside Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Ghana and Senegal.
Under the policy, applicants from designated safe countries are subjected to accelerated asylum procedures with shorter timelines and a presumption that their claims are generally unfounded. Analysts say the measure has contributed to the persistently high rejection rates recorded among Nigerian applicants.
Cyprus hosts a sizeable and growing Nigerian community, comprising mainly international students enrolled in private universities, as well as workers, dependants and a smaller number of asylum seekers. Many asylum applicants reportedly seek protection after the expiration of student or work permits or after entering through irregular routes from the Turkish-administered northern part of the island.
Under European Union and Cypriot asylum laws, refugee status is granted to individuals who can demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group.
Subsidiary protection is available to applicants who do not qualify as refugees but face a real risk of serious harm, including torture, the death penalty or indiscriminate violence arising from armed conflict if returned to their home countries.
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