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At least 6,704 Nigerians applied for international protection in Cyprus between 2021 and 2025, according to the latest country report by the Asylum Information Database, compiled using data from Cyprus’s Asylum Service and the European Union Agency for Asylum.
The report showed Nigeria remained one of the leading sources of asylum seekers to the Mediterranean island throughout the period, although applications fell sharply by 70 per cent between 2022 and 2025.
A yearly breakdown recorded 1,555 Nigerian applicants in 2021, rising to 3,148 in 2022 before dropping to 1,019 in 2023, 554 in 2024 and 428 in 2025, the lowest figure during the five-year period.
In 2025, authorities made decisions affecting 565 Nigerians. Of these, only 270 were considered in-merit decisions, while 546 were classified as overall rejections, a category that includes inadmissibility rulings, withdrawals and closed files. Of the total, 254 were strict in-merit rejections.
Only 11 Nigerians were granted refugee status and five received subsidiary protection in 2025, giving an overall protection rate of 0.16 per cent and an in-merit protection rate of 0.36 per cent.
The report also showed consistently high rejection rates in previous years. In 2021, nine Nigerians received refugee status while 498 applications were rejected. In 2022, only 11 applicants secured refugee status, with no grants of subsidiary protection.
Nigeria remained among Cyprus’s top four countries of origin for asylum seekers throughout the review period. The report noted that Nigeria was designated a “safe country of origin” by Cyprus in 2021, a classification that subjects applicants to accelerated processing and contributes to the country’s persistently high rejection rates.
Under European Union and Cypriot asylum laws, refugee status is granted to applicants with a well-founded fear of persecution, while subsidiary protection applies to those facing serious harm such as torture, the death penalty or indiscriminate violence if returned to their home country.
