The UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) has reviewed guidelines for its decision makers on how to consider and grant asylum applications made by persons fleeing Boko Haram and ISWAP in northeast Nigeria, TheCable can report.
In a recent review seen by Newsmen, UKVI is willing to grant asylum to LGBTI persons or women who work or are in education — and other social groups at risk of attack by extremists in the region.
The UK has remained silent about asylum for members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) and Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB).
In April 2021, TheCable reported that the UK said it would grant asylum to “persecuted” members of IPOB, which has been designated as a terrorist organisation by the Nigerian government, and MASSOB.
A few days later, following the report and subsequent complaints from the Nigerian government, the UK pulled down the policy notes, stating that it was being reviewed.
In the most recent July 2021 review, UKVI updated its designation for insurgent groups in northeast Nigeria, clearly naming them “Islamist extremists” in the region.
It said Nigerians could now claim asylum in the UK if they face “fear of persecution and/or serious harm by members of Boko Haram because of” their “actual or perceived opposition to the group”.