India, Aug. 31 -- As was the case last year, Indian nationals comprised the largest country cohort making refugee claims in Canada though they also accounted for a high percentage of refusals.

Meanwhile, an immigration expert in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) has argued that the escalating refugee claims are due to unscrupulous gaming of the refugee system.

Between January and June this year, India was the source country for 9,947 claims referred to the Refugee Protection Division of the Immigration Board of Canada. They accounted for over 18% of the 55,093 total claims. However, the numbers have softened when compared to 2024 when claims by Indians numbered 32,563 out of 190,039.

However, the rising number of claims has been criticise...