Headline

‘Over 7,000 Nigerians Sought Asylum In Sweden In 24 Years’

Published

49 minutes ago

September 20, 2025

Nigerians filed over 7,646 asylum applications in Sweden between 2000 and 2024, according to official figures from the Swedish Migration Agency, Migrationsverket.

Data obtained by The PUNCH from the agency’s portal, covering the period, showed a consistent stream of Nigerian asylum seekers in the Nordic country.

A total of 6,783 asylum applications from Nigerian nationals were recorded between 2000 and 2021.

In 2022, there were 288 applications, followed by 200 in 2023, and 375 in 2024. Of the 375 applications received in 2024, 239 were first-time claims, while 136 were follow-up “extension” requests from persons whose temporary status was about to expire.

Women filed nearly two-thirds (159) of all first-time Nigerian claims, and half of every Nigerian applicant was between 25 and 44 years old, as no one over 64 applied in 2024.

Children accompanied 60 adult applicants, while one child travelled alone and registered as an unaccompanied minor.

Similarly, in 2023, there were 160 adults, 39 children in families, and one unaccompanied child among first-time asylum seekers from Nigeria.

Over the longer period from 2000 to 2021, a total of 132 unaccompanied minors from Nigeria applied for asylum.

The number of new applications for international protection peaked in 2003 at 452 and again in 2013 at 601, but the volume has never reached the scale of applications seen from countries experiencing internal conflicts.

Across Africa, Nigeria is among the top five countries of origin for asylum seekers in Sweden.

However, Somalia, Eritrea, Sudan, and Ethiopia far surpass it in numbers due to ongoing conflict and instability.

Somalia alone accounted for more than 54,128 applications since 2000, followed by Eritrea with over 39,000, then Sudan, Libya, Morocco, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Other countries include Uganda, Egypt, Cameroon, The Gambia and Burundi, Kenya, Algeria, Tunisia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Ghana, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Mali, Zambia, Djibouti, Côte d’Ivoire, Angola, Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso, and single-digit applications from Benin, Niger, Equatorial Guinea, the Central African Republic and Mauritania. Nigeria, however, remains West Africa’s largest contributor of asylum seekers.

According to the reports, the migration from these countries is often directly tied to large-scale conflict and instability, a factor that distinguishes them from the lower, more consistent flow of applicants from Nigeria.

Swedish authorities say the distinction is significant as it enables a fast-track process for nationalities with historically high rejection rates, defined as a rejection percentage of 85 per cent or higher.

In 2024, Nigerian asylum seekers had an 88 per cent rejection rate while Colombians had 99 per cent.

Globally, the highest asylum grants in Sweden went to nationals of Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Somalia, Iraq, Iran, Ethiopia, Palestine, Ukraine, and stateless persons.

On the other hand, the highest denials were recorded among applicants from Nigeria, India, Bangladesh, Albania, Georgia, Mongolia, Russia, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia.

The Swedish government says it prioritises claims linked to war, persecution, or statelessness over applications driven by economic factors.

Sweden’s asylum regime is rooted in the Aliens Act (Utlänningslagen), which incorporates both EU asylum directives and the 1951 UN Refugee Convention.

A successful applicant must demonstrate either refugee status (fear of persecution), eligibility for subsidiary protection (risk of serious harm in war or conflict), or humanitarian grounds such as severe illness or family reunification.

In recent years, however, Sweden has shifted toward more restrictive policies.

Since 2022, it has issued more temporary residence permits, limited family reunification programmes and tightened deportation enforcement.

Following the record influx of asylum claims in 2015, the Swedish parliament introduced a temporary emergency law that curtailed family reunification rights and made almost all new permits temporary. The main features were ratified in July 2021.

Under its 2023 Tidö Agreement, the current centre-right coalition, bolstered by the far-right Sweden Democrats, imposed “the EU’s minimum level” of protection, which uses tougher naturalisation and welfare rules as explicit deterrents.

To be granted asylum in Sweden today, an applicant must clear at least one of the classic Geneva or EU thresholds—fear of persecution, risk of torture or death, or indiscriminate violence—or demonstrate “exceptionally distressing” humanitarian circumstances.

Meanwhile, Abuja-based development economist Dr Aliyu Ilias, reasoned that the exit of more Nigerians and their permanent settlement abroad meant a loss of skilled labour for the country.

He said that with Nigerians battling economic headwinds and deteriorating security at home, the asylum route, however uncertain, still appeared to offer a better prospect.

“So, it is a total brain drain in the long run, and for the economy, it is reducing our GDP. The appalling part is that most of our Nigerian brothers and sisters who go out do not return,” he added.

Headline

H-1B Visas: Trump To Impose $100,000 Annual Fee For Skilled Foreign Workers

Published

2 hours ago

September 20, 2025

Editor

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order requiring companies to pay a $100,000 annual fee for applicants to the H-1B visa programme.

The order, which takes effect on 21 September, will apply to new applications and is set to reshape the way American firms recruit from abroad.

The H-1B programme allows US employers to hire skilled foreign workers in specialised fields. Since 2004, the number of applications has been capped at 85,000 per year. Previously, visa-related fees were about $1,500.

Announcing the change, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said companies must decide whether potential hires are valuable enough to justify the $100,000 payment. “If not, they should hire an American,” he added. Lutnick said large companies had already signalled support for the measure.

In addition, Trump approved the creation of a “gold card” fast-track visa, allowing certain applicants to secure residency by paying fees starting at $1m.

Critics argue the new fee will hurt small businesses and start-ups that cannot compete with larger firms. Immigration lawyer Tahmina Watson described it as a major setback for her clients, warning that many would be “priced out” of the process.

Watson noted that many firms sponsor workers from abroad only after struggling to fill roles locally. “When employers sponsor foreign talent, it’s usually because they could not hire for those positions,” she said.

Business leaders have also raised concerns that the $100,000 fee will weaken America’s competitiveness. Jorge Lopez of Littler Mendelson PC said the move could limit growth across industries and potentially push firms to expand operations outside the United States.

Supporters of the order argue the changes are necessary to reduce reliance on the H-1B system. Trump has long claimed that the programme has been misused, disadvantaging American workers.

The debate has divided opinion within Washington and the tech sector. Some industry leaders, including Elon Musk, say the programme helps attract top global talent, while others claim it puts pressure on wages at home.

Data from US Citizenship and Immigration Services shows that H-1B applications for the next fiscal year have already fallen to around 359,000, the lowest in four years. Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, Apple, Google and Tata have been among the biggest beneficiaries of the programme.

India has consistently been the largest source of H-1B applicants, with China second. In the past year, Amazon and its AWS unit secured more than 12,000 approvals, while Microsoft and Meta each received over 5,000.

Some analysts predict the higher fees may force smaller tech companies to relocate parts of their workforce overseas, reducing the country’s ability to innovate. Critics say the policy risks long-term harm to the US economy.

The new order continues Trump’s wider push to restrict certain forms of immigration. In 2017, he signed a directive to tighten scrutiny of H-1B applications, which saw rejection rates rise sharply compared to earlier administrations.

For now, companies must weigh the cost of retaining skilled foreign workers against the new levy. The policy is likely to remain a flashpoint in the ongoing debate over immigration, jobs, and America’s role in the global economy.

Headline

We’ll Recognise Palestinian State, Portugal Confirms

Published

2 hours ago

September 20, 2025

Editor

Portugal has announced it will recognise a Palestinian state on Sunday, joining a growing list of Western nations preparing to shift policy as the war in Gaza shows no sign of abating.

The country’s foreign ministry confirmed the move ahead of next week’s United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, where world leaders are set to convene. France, the UK, Canada and Australia are also expected to make similar announcements.

Israel has strongly condemned the decision. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it “rewards terror” following Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attack on Israel.

The United States, Israel’s closest ally, has echoed Netanyahu’s position. President Donald Trump, speaking during a state visit to the UK alongside Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer this week, said he disagreed with recognition.

Currently, about three-quarters of the UN’s 193 member states recognise a Palestinian state, which was granted non-member observer status in 2012.

Meanwhile, the conflict in Gaza continues to escalate. Israeli tanks and troops are pushing deeper into Gaza City as part of a ground offensive that has displaced thousands of people.

Israel’s campaign in Gaza was launched after the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel in October 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 others taken hostage.

According to Gaza’s health ministry, at least 65,141 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since then.

Headline

Judge Throws Out Trump’s $15bn ‘Rage’ Lawsuit Against New York Times

Published

6 hours ago

September 20, 2025

Editor

A federal judge, in a scathing ruling, on Friday tossed out US President Donald Trump’s $15 billion defamation lawsuit against The New York Times.

District Judge Steven Merryday said Trump’s complaint, as submitted, was “improper and impermissible” and he gave his lawyers 28 days to refile it “in a professional and dignified manner.”

Merryday, an appointee of Republican president George HW Bush, did not rule on the merits of the complaint against the newspaper but he took exception to its florid writing, repetitive and laudatory praise of Trump and its excessive 85-page length.

“A complaint is a short, plain, direct statement of allegations of fact sufficient to create a facially plausible claim for relief,” Merryday said.

“Although lawyers receive a modicum of expressive latitude in pleading the claim of a client, the complaint in this action extends far beyond the outer bound of that latitude,” he said.

“A complaint is not a public forum for vituperation and invective,” the judge said, and “not a protected platform to rage against an adversary.”

Trump filed the lawsuit against the Times on Monday, adding to his growing list of legal attacks on news organizations he accuses of bias against him.

Trump, 79, has intensified his long-established hostility toward the media since his return to the White House, repeatedly badmouthing journalists critical of his administration, restricting access and bringing lawsuits demanding huge amounts of compensation.

Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel was indefinitely suspended by Disney-owned ABC this week after the head of the Federal Communications Commission threatened to cancel broadcasting licenses over comments Kimmel made about the killing of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.

– ‘No merit’ –

In his suit filed in federal court in Florida, Trump accused the Times of a “decades-long pattern” of smears driven by feelings of “actual malice.”

“The Times has become a leading, and unapologetic, purveyor of falsehoods against President Trump on the legacy media landscape,” it said.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, the Republican president said “The New York Times has been allowed to freely lie, smear, and defame me for far too long, and that stops, NOW!”

The lawsuit also named four Times reporters and the publisher Penguin Random House as defendants.
The Times dismissed Trump’s case as having “no merit.”

“It lacks any legitimate legal claims and instead is an attempt to stifle and discourage independent reporting. The New York Times will not be deterred by intimidation tactics,” the newspaper said in a statement.

Trump’s lawsuit alleged that the Times deviated from industry best practices when covering him, writing articles “in the most antagonistic and negative way” and not giving him sufficient time to respond before publishing.

“Put bluntly, Defendants baselessly hate President Trump in a deranged way,” the complaint read.

The court was asked to grant compensatory damages of not less than $15 billion and additional punitive damages “in an amount to be determined upon trial.”

While broad constitutional protections exist for US media, Trump has found success in similar lawsuits brought against other news organizations, winning multi-million dollar settlements from ABC and Paramount-owned CBS.

The settlements in those cases — which are to be paid to Trump’s future presidential library — were seen as being motivated by the desire of the news organizations’ parent companies to stay in Trump’s good graces.

Trump has also sued media magnate Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal for at least $10 billion after it reported in July on the existence of a birthday letter he allegedly sent to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.