An asylum seeker may apply for asylum on the basis of their conversion to a new religion if they risk persecution in their home country because of their new faith.
The Church of England has said baptism is “open to all” and it is up to the government, not priests, to vet asylum seekers.
A database of appeals to the Upper Tribunal, which hears immigration cases, reveals some of the techniques used by asylum seekers and their lawyers to challenge the Home Office’s refusal to grant permission to stay in the United Kingdom.
Many judgments show how migrants add a ‘second tier’ to their claim to stay in Britain by claiming to have converted to Christianitymeaning that anyone returning to the Middle East risks persecution for abandoning Islam.
In several cases, Christian clergy, churchgoers, and adoptive parents testify in court about their belief that the plaintiffs embraced Christianity. Many explain that they met asylum seekers through the Evangelical Alpha course.
In 2020, two Glasgow-based Iranian Muslims, known only as TF and MA, who had converted to Christianity, won a historic battle against the Home Office with the support of the Tron Church, a Presbyterian church in the city.
This is despite it being established at a previous hearing that he had fabricated a letter from an Iranian hospital and entered the UK on a student visa in 2013 after “ made a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia…which called into question his assertion that Islam did not exist.” play a role in his life.
The second man initially claimed he was gay and had been persecuted in Iran before claiming to be Christian, which the judge said was kept “in reserve” as a “plan B”.
The judge called the man’s application a “multi-layered ploy”, adding: “He is not a genuine asylum seeker and should be removed from the UK on this basis.” »
The Henry Jackson Society said at the time: “We know that people are willing to lie to get asylum, even going so far as to fake a religious conversion. This situation is encouraged by the asylum system, which does not do enough to weed out counterfeits.
“The Church of England has been hopelessly naive in accepting so many converts from immigrant backgrounds and so readily offering them support in their asylum applications. »
