Conservatives sounded the alarm today as 40 asylum seekers in Bibby Stockholm reportedly converted to Christianity.
Around a seventh of the 300 people housed on the barge on the Dorset coast are believed to be changing religion.
These stark figures have fueled concerns that conversion is being used as a tactic to increase the chances of being allowed to stay in the UK. Human rights rules prevent the government from deporting individuals to a country where they would be persecuted because of their religion.
Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman is among those warning that churches appear to be “endorsing” conversions to Christianity.
Conservative MP Lee Anderson said this morning that the apparent 40 converts on Bibby Stockholm were “great news for the congregation, but not great news for the taxpayer”.
However, he also emphasized that Rwandawhere the government hopes to send some arrivals to the Channel, has a predominantly Christian population.
“In reality, the Church prepares illegal migrants for a Christian life in Rwanda,” he said on social media.
The row comes after it emerged that Clapham chemical attack suspect Abdul Ezedi was able to gain asylum in the UK after claiming he had converted to Christianity – despite was convicted of a sexual offense three years previously.
Conservatives sounded the alarm today as 40 asylum seekers from Bibby Stockholm (pictured) reportedly converted to Christianity.
Conservative MP Lee Anderson said this morning that the apparent 40 converts on Bibby Stockholm were “great news for the congregation, but not great news for the taxpayer”.
Abdul Ezedi (pictured) was able to gain asylum in the UK after claiming to have converted to Christianity, despite being convicted of a sex offense three years previously.
The Church of England has since been criticized for allegedly “facilitating false asylum claims on an industrial scale”, with Ms Brave man and lady Priti Patel accusing Church leaders of “political activism.”
But the Church of England said it was not currently aware of any links between the case and its churches.
A spokesperson for the Church added that it is “the role of Home Officeand not the Church, to examine asylum seekers and judge the merits of their individual cases.”
The current Minister of the Interior, James cleverlyshould subsequently receive a first report detailing all the facts of the case.
It will examine the need to change laws to better consider conversion applications, and consider whether to allow the automatic deportation of convicted foreign criminals such as Ezedi.
Church elder David Rees told the BBC that a number of asylum seekers housed on the barge were becoming Christians through British courses such as Christian Alpha, while others were are converted in their country of origin.
“Local religious leaders have visited the barge and are working with the council and barge management to take care of these guys,” he said.
Mr Rees said he was convinced that the 40 migrants from Bibby Stockholm were genuinely converting to Christianity.
“Obviously we have to make sure that they believe in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and that they repent of their sins and also want to start a new life in the Church,” he said. he declares.
“So those are the kinds of questions we ask them, and they have to give a public testimony, at their baptism, what they did in their native language, and it was translated into English.
“There were no qualms about the content of this testimony, which was clear and conclusive about their faith in Jesus Christ.”
The Home Office said social workers are trained to grant protection only to those who truly need it, assessing claims “in-depth” and not taking the testimony of priests as “determinative”.
Former Conservative minister Tim Loughton has expressed concern that Christian conversion has become a scam, saying there were cases in which asylum seekers were even tattooed with crucifixes to bolster their claims .
“We need to put in place a much more rigorous vetting process for those who claim to have converted and to determine why it would be unsafe to send them back to their country of origin,” he told the Telegraph .
Ms Braverman told GB News the church should also face questions over its willingness to “effectively endorse people who come to church and say they want to convert to Christianity”.
She added: “It is a gross insult to those true Christians who are pious and take their faith seriously when they see people walking into the church, getting their verification certificate or letter from the priest and then disappearing and obtain asylum. I think it’s a very, very sad situation.
Ezedi is a former Afghan asylum seeker who is believed to have arrived in the UK from Afghanistan on a truck in 2016.
He was granted asylum after getting a priest’s assurance that he had converted to Christianity after leaving Islam, despite having been convicted of two sexual assault offenses three years earlier.
The Interior Ministry had already twice refused the 35-year-old man’s request for residence.
Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman is among those warning that churches appear to be “endorsing” conversions to Christianity.
The current Home Secretary, James Cleverly, is expected to receive a first report detailing all the facts of the case at a later date.
The Church’s support for Ezedi’s conversion was reportedly key to persuading an immigration court judge to support his third asylum appeal, with a priest ensuring he was “fully committed” to the Christian faith.
Ezedi, from the Newcastle area, is accused of carrying out a “targeted” attack on a 31-year-old mother and her two daughters on Wednesday evening in Clapham.
The woman, believed to be known to Ezedi, was attacked with a corrosive alkaline substance and remains “very unwell” and sedated in hospital, with her injuries considered “life-changing”.
The injuries suffered by his daughters, aged three and eight, “are not likely to change their lives”.
Ezedi – who is described as having “very significant injuries to the right side of his face” – was last seen at King’s Cross tube station on Wednesday evening, where he boarded a line train Victoria southbound.
“Significant and significant evidence” was discovered during searches at two addresses in east London and three in Newcastle, police said.
They include empty containers bearing corrosive warnings found at an address in Newcastle, which are shown in new footage released by detectives.
Forensic tests to determine whether the containers contained the substance used in the attack are underway.
The Metropolitan Police said they had received “dozens of calls” regarding the manhunt, including possible sightings of Ezedi.
