Government launches investigation into migrants’ Christian conversions

The Home Secretary has launched an investigation into how the asylum system offers with migrants who’ve transformed to Christianity amid claims 40 males on the Bibby Stockholm barge are being baptised. 

The probe by James Cleverly follows renewed give attention to the difficulty after it emerged Clapham chemical assault suspect Abdul Ezedi received the proper to stay within the UK after changing – regardless of buddies describing him as a ‘good Muslim’. 

MPs have raised considerations that migrants from majority Muslim international locations are changing to Christianity to be able to declare they’re liable to persecution of their dwelling nations as a result of their non secular beliefs. 

Sussex MP Tim Loughton raised the difficulty in Parliament on Wednesday, asking Prime Minister Rishi Sunak: ‘The Archbishop of Canterbury has admitted that since taking workplace, the attendance on the Church of England has dropped by 15% and within the 10 years to Covid, the variety of baptisms within the Church of England has fallen from 140,000-a-year to 87,000.

‘So Christianity within the UK appears to be on the wane except apparently, you might be from a Muslim nation in the course of an asylum declare. We’re now instructed one in seven occupants of the Bibby Stockholm have all of a sudden grow to be practising Christians.

A complete of 40 males on board the Bibby Stockholm are mentioned to be changing to Christianity. Pictured is an aerial view of the barge, which is moored within the Port of Portland 

Home Secretary James Cleverly is now in search of proof on asylum seeker conversions 

‘Can I ask the Prime Minister that on condition that the Church of England has now issued secret steering for clergy supporting asylum functions for these Damascene conversions, who’s the church accountable to and are taxpayers being scammed by the Archbishop?’

Mr Sunak replied that Mr Cleverly had requested extra data on migrants changing to Christianity.

Following Prime Minister’s Questions, the Archbishop of Canterbury issued an announcement hitting out on the ‘mischaracterisation of the function of church buildings and religion teams within the asylum system’. 

‘It is the job of the federal government to guard our borders and of the courts to guage asylum circumstances,’ he mentioned. 

‘The church is known as to like, mercy and do justice. 

‘I encourage everybody to keep away from irresponsible and inaccurate feedback – and allow us to not overlook that on the coronary heart of this dialog are susceptible individuals whose lives are valuable within the sight of God.’

The Church of England has just lately come beneath fireplace for allegedly ‘facilitating industrial-scale bogus asylum claims‘, with former Home Secretaries Suella Braverman and Dame Priti Patel accusing church leaders of ‘political activism’. 

Dave Rees, an elder at Weymouth Baptist Church, defended its determination to hold out a mass conversion of residents of the Bibby Stockholm – with six already baptised and an additional 36 to comply with. 

Speaking to BBC Radio 4 on Sunday, he mentioned his church had a Farsi-speaking minister who knew the asylum seekers’ language and cultural practices.

‘Because we had this hyperlink we felt assured that the measures we put in place and the scrutiny we’ve, there is not any purpose we’d doubt these asylum seekers,’ Mr Rees mentioned.

He mentioned a few of the males claimed that they had been Christians of their dwelling international locations, whereas others had accomplished a 11-week Alpha course, which seeks to introduce potential converts to the fundamentals of the Christian religion. 

There has been renewed give attention to the difficulty after it emerged Clapham chemical assault suspect Abdul Ezedi received the proper to stay within the UK after changing

‘Obviously, we have to ensure that they consider in Jesus, they consider within the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, they repent of their sins and in addition they wish to begin a brand new life within the church,’ he mentioned.

‘And they’ve to present a public testimony at their baptism, which they did in a local language and was translated into English.’

The Home Office has admitted it has no thought what number of asylum seekers have been allowed to remain within the UK after changing to Christianity, because the hunt for Ezedi continues.

It is believed that Afghan intercourse offender Ezedi persuaded church buildings to help his declare, and was even given a written testimonial by a Baptist minister in addition to extra backing from the Catholic church, sources instructed the Mail.

The findings of Mr Cleverly’s investigation are set to type a part of an inside assessment that he commissioned following the assault in south London final week.

Home Office sources mentioned that officers within the division have struggled to discover knowledge regarding what number of asylum seekers have cited their obvious conversion to Christianity.

A supply beforehand instructed the Mail {that a} reference from a Baptist chapel within the North East, the place Ezedi was dwelling, was essential in persuading an immigration tribunal that he had transformed from Islam to Christianity. This led to him being allowed to remain in Britain on the grounds of human rights.

‘The one that actually made a distinction was from the Baptist church,’ a authorities supply mentioned. ‘One private written submission talked of understanding Ezedi for 4 years, he had been attending church they usually thought he was a real convert.’

Further backing was supplied by the Catholic Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, the supply claimed.

The Home Office has mentioned caseworkers are educated to solely grant safety to these in real want by assessing claims ‘within the spherical’ and never taking clergymen’ testimony as ‘determinative’.