The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has stepped up the removal of foreign nationals living illegally in Canada or involved in crime, pushing Bangladesh into its top 10 active removal cases with nearly 1,000 Bangladeshi citizens now in the deportation pipeline.

Ottawa’s hardline stance on enforcing its immigration policy has driven the number of foreign nationals seeking asylum who have been sent back to their home countries to its highest level in a decade.

Meanwhile, the 2024 political upheaval in Bangladesh that ousted the Awami League government sent many of the party’s leaders and activists fleeing abroad. Some have sought refuge in Canada, joining a wider diaspora facing heightened scrutiny as several European nations also move to tighten returns of Bangladeshi asylum seekers in recent months.

CBSA’s “Removals in Progress” list (until June 30) records 968 Bangladeshis at the final stage of deportation, placing the country tenth among nationalities confirmed for removal.

The agency deported 308 Bangladeshis in 2020. Annual figures dropped in subsequent years, but enforcement has since accelerated dramatically, with 227 removed in the first six months of 2026 alone.

Separate data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) show Bangladeshis are also among those seeking asylum after entering the country to watch FIFA World Cup matches. Of 175 foreigners who arrived on visitor visas and later sought refugee status, 10 are Bangladeshi nationals.

Political asylum seekers account for 36,622 of the 40,827 foreign nationals facing removal from Canada, a figure that includes Bangladeshi citizens.

A Bangladeshi researcher at a Canadian university, speaking anonymously to Bonik Barta, said the 2024 mass uprising had created two distinct complications for Bangladeshi refugee claims under review in Canada.

“Those who previously sought asylum fearing persecution under the Awami League government are now having their risk reassessed in the new political context,” the researcher said. “At the same time, those facing reprisal if returned because of links to the Awami League, a party with its activities now banned, face a complex new application process. Many are using both circumstances to secure permanent residence, but Canada is abandoning its earlier lenient approach in favour of tough measures.”

Immigration experts say Bangladesh’s international standing is steadily eroding and the global climate for Bangladeshi asylum seekers is hardening. European countries have already begun reducing the number of asylum applications they accept while irregular sea crossings and human trafficking have made standard visas more difficult to secure across multiple destinations.

India tops the list of people facing deportation from Canada for living there illegally, with 7,669 Indian nationals currently in the removal process. Mexico ranks second, with 6,561 Mexican nationals currently facing removal from Canada. Among other countries, the United States accounts for 2,179, China 1,892, Nigeria 1,647, Colombia 1,237, Pakistan 1,139, Brazil 1,118 and Chile 1,030.

CBSA data show Canada deported 10,607 foreign nationals through June this year.

Bangladesh was the fourth-largest source of asylum applicants in the European Union last year, according to the European Union Agency for Asylum’s (EUAA) Latest Asylum Trends 2025 report.

According to the report, Bangladeshi nationals lodged 36,901 asylum applications across the bloc in 2025, including 35,245 first-time applicants. EU authorities reached first-instance decisions on 43,523 Bangladeshi cases. By the end of the year, 41,692 applications were awaiting decisions across various member states. A further 1,170 applications were withdrawn in 2025. Only 3 percent of Bangladeshi asylum applications were recognised at the first stage.

The EUAA report’s analysis of Bangladesh noted that many applicants cited political, security and human rights concerns following the change of government in August 2024. Although overall asylum applications from Bangladeshis fell by nearly 15 percent in 2025 compared with the previous year, Bangladesh remained a major source country. Data from EU border and coast guard agency Frontex show Bangladeshis also account for a significant share of irregular arrivals along the Central Mediterranean route.

The growing volume of asylum claims is damaging Bangladesh’s global standing, according to Md Nurul Haque, state minister for expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment.

“An authoritarian system of government existed during Sheikh Hasina’s tenure, with political cases, attacks and enforced disappearances taking place. That political instability no longer exists in Bangladesh,” Haque told Bonik Barta. “Yet many people still enter Europe and other developed countries illegally or apply for political asylum because they lack the required documents. Many do so primarily to secure permanent residency.”

The state minister added: “Bangladesh has no direct role or ability to make recommendations on asylum; the entire process rests with host authorities. But the rising number of asylum applications is a clear negative for our international image.”