TORONTO: Refugee claims in Canada are dropping from historic highs as the country grants fewer visas and advocates worry legitimate claimants are being left stranded with few good options.
About 11,840 people filed refugee claims in Canada in January, down from a high of 19,821 in July, Immigration and Refugee Board data shows. This was the lowest monthly figure since September 2023.
Canada is publicly discouraging asylum-seekers and clamping down on the visas it issues, aiming to gradually reduce the population and reduce strain on services amid a broader backlash against migrants.
Last year Canada issued about 1.5 million visitor visas, down from about 1.8 million in 2023, according to government data.
The decline was particularly sharp for certain countries that have been significant sources of asylum-seekers, Reuters analysis shows.
The number of visitor visas granted to Bangladeshi citizens dropped to 27,975 from 45,322; Haitians dropped to 5,487 from 8,984; Nigerians, to 51,828 from 79,378. Visitor visas to some countries with high refugee acceptance rates have declined from 2023. Last year Canada granted visitor visas to 330 Afghans, down from 468; 38,075 Iranians, down from 57,127; 2,019 Ugandans, from 6,096; 1,174 Syrians, from 2,716; and 3,199 Kenyans, from 11,464.
The number of pending claims is still at a historic high — 278,457 in January, according to the Immigration and Refugee Board. Canada has no asylum-seeker visas. Anyone who wants to claim refugee status must come as a visitor, student or worker — or sneak into the country, no easy feat for a place surrounded by water and an agreement with the United States to turn back asylum-seekers.
Displaced people can also wait in refugee camps, potentially for years, in hopes they will be selected for resettlement.
Canada is using heightened scrutiny of visa applications from countries with the “highest rates of abuse” with the aim of ensuring visas are used for their intended purpose, Renee LeBlanc Proctor, a spokesperson for Immigration Minister Marc Miller, wrote in an email.
“This work additionally protects the asylum process ... so that it is available for those who need it most.”
At a time of global displacement, advocates argue, Canada’s clampdown leaves desperate people with no good options. “It’s very problematic,” said Diana Gallego, co-executive director at Toronto-based FCJ Refugee Center, which provides services to asylum-seekers.
“If people are fleeing persecution the only way that some of them may find safe haven is having an exit visa because, if not, they are forced to cross borders walking, putting their lives in danger.”
Gallego said the center is seeing fewer people, although she does not know if they are being sent elsewhere.
“It’s like invisible walls.”
Canada refugee claims drop as country issues fewer visas
https://arab.news/z7gst
Canada refugee claims drop as country issues fewer visas
- About 11,840 people filed refugee claims in Canada in January, down from a high of 19,821 in July, Immigration and Refugee Board data shows
- Canada is publicly discouraging asylum-seekers and clamping down on the visas it issues
Nestle acknowledges delay before baby milk recall
- The company in December recalled batches of its infant formula in 16 European countries
- Nestle said routine checks at its Dutch plant at the end of November 2025 had detected “very low levels” of cereulide
GENEVA: Swiss food giant Nestle has acknowledged that it waited days for a health-risk analysis before alerting authorities after detecting a toxin in its baby milk at a Dutch factory.
But in an open letter to campaign group Foodwatch France Friday it denied accusations of negligence.
The company in December recalled batches of its infant formula in 16 European countries after detecting cereulide, a bacterial toxin that can cause diarrhea and vomiting.
French newspaper Le Monde reported Friday that traces of cereulide had been found in late November — 10 days before the first recalls of the product — because the company waited for a “health?risk analysis” before informing regulators.
Nestle said in a statement online that routine checks at its Dutch plant at the end of November 2025 had detected “very low levels” of cereulide after new equipment was installed in a factory.
It said there was no maximum limit for cereulide indicated by regulations.
The company halted production and launched further tests, which in early December confirmed minute quantities in products that had yet to leave the warehouse.
Nestle said it informed Dutch, European and other national authorities on December 10 and began a precautionary recall of all products made since the new equipment was installed — 25 batches across 16 European countries.
- Response to Foodwatch -
Friday’s open letter responded to claims by Foodwatch France, which a day earlier announced it was filing a legal complaint in the French courts against Nestle on behalf of several families whose babies had fallen ill.
Nestle denied Foodwatch’s suggestions that its product recall had been late without any reasonable excuse and that it had displayed “alarming negligence.”
They said they had acted in December and January as soon as they had identified there was an issue, said the company.
“We recognize the stress and worry that the recall has caused for parents and caregivers,” it said.
“To date, we have not received any medical reports confirming a link to illness associated with our products,” it added.
The company has said from the start of the affair that the recall stemmed from a “quality issue” and that it had seen no evidence linking its products to illness.
French authorities launched an investigation into the deaths in December and January of two babies who were thought to have drunk possibly contaminated powdered milk.
Nestle said in its statement that “nothing indicates any link between these tragic events in these two instances and the consumption of our products.”
