- 931 Nigerians applied for asylum in the Netherlands in 2024, rising to 986 in 2025.
- Nigeria ranked sixth among identified nationalities seeking asylum in the Netherlands in 2025.
- About 83 per cent of Nigerian applications that received first-instance decisions in 2025 were rejected.
At least 1,917 Nigerians applied for asylum in the Netherlands between 2024 and 2025, according to data from the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service.
Eko Hot Blog reports that the figures were contained in the Asylum Information Database’s Netherlands country reports for 2024 and 2025, compiled under the AIDA project by the Dutch Council for Refugees, VluchtelingenWerk Nederland, and published using data from the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service and Eurostat.
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The report showed that Nigeria was among the top 10 countries of origin for asylum applicants in the Netherlands in both years.
In 2024, a total of 931 Nigerians applied for asylum. This comprised 770 first-time applicants and 161 subsequent applicants.
The number increased to 986 in 2025, consisting of 813 first-time applicants and 173 subsequent applicants. This represented a 5.9 per cent year-on-year increase.
However, the figures did not include Nigerians who joined family members in the Netherlands through family reunification, meaning the total number of Nigerians who migrated to the country through that route was not captured.
Globally, Nigeria ranked ninth among the top nationalities of asylum applicants in the Netherlands in 2024.
Syria recorded the highest number with 11,655 applications, followed by Iraq with 2,306, Türkiye with 1,905, Eritrea with 1,506, Algeria with 1,216, Somalia with 1,119 and Yemen with 1,089.
Nigeria moved up to sixth position among identified nationalities in 2025, with 986 applications. Syria recorded 3,373 applications, Eritrea 3,178, Türkiye 1,530, Algeria 1,454 and Somalia 1,384.
Among African countries, Eritrea recorded the highest combined number of asylum applications during the two-year period with 4,684, followed by Algeria with 2,670 and Somalia with 2,503. Nigeria ranked fourth with 1,917 applications.
The reports showed that Nigeria accounted for a significant proportion of asylum applications from African nationals during the period.
On the outcome of applications, Nigeria recorded 515 first-instance decisions in 2025. Of these, 425 applications, representing 83 per cent, were rejected.
Only 65 applicants, or 13 per cent, were granted refugee status, while 10 applicants received subsidiary protection and 15 were granted humanitarian protection.
The overall rejection rate for asylum applications from all nationalities in the Netherlands stood at 52 per cent in 2025, compared with an overall protection rate of 48 per cent.
Nigeria’s 83 per cent rejection rate was therefore considerably higher than the overall figure.
The Netherlands had not designated Nigeria as a “safe country of origin,” a classification that allows authorities to use a faster procedure when processing asylum applications.
The Dutch government suspended its nationwide safe-country policy in September 2025 following rulings by the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Countries previously designated under the classification include Ghana, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia.
The report also disclosed that a Nigerian was involved in one of only two cases in 2025 where Dutch authorities invoked the “first country of asylum” concept.
The concept applies where an asylum seeker is presumed to have already received protection in another country.
According to the report, both cases involving Nigeria and the West Bank were dismissed by a Dutch court because it was unclear whether the applicants could be admitted to those territories.
Meanwhile, the Dutch parliament passed a bill in April 2026 introducing a two-status system that distinguishes between refugees and people granted subsidiary protection.
Under the proposed system, people with subsidiary protection status would face longer waiting periods as well as income and housing requirements before becoming eligible for family reunification.
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