Churches told to explain checks on asylum-seekers

CHURCH leaders have been asked to explain the checks they make when offering support to asylum seekers who claim to be Christian converts.

The Home Office has requested details amid concerns conversion is being abused in the wake of the scandal over Clapham chemical attacker Abdul Ezedi.

A working group has been set up between officials and representatives of a number of Christian denominations – but it is understood churches have been ‘reluctant’ to engage on the subject.

A source close to Home Secretary James Cleverly confirmed last night: ‘We have urged church leaders to share their mechanisms for how decisions to speak on behalf of an individual at a tribunal are taken and what criteria are applied to assess the validity of that conversion.’

The Mail can also disclose that the Home Office is gathering data on the number of asylum seekers who converted to Christianity in the wake of the Ezedi affair. Ministers have ordered officials to measure the scale of the trend for the first time after Ezedi won refugee status after claiming to have abandoned Islam.

Ezedi had been unable to answer basic questions about Christianity during interviews with asylum caseworkers. But the Afghan was granted asylum on his third appeal after receiving support from the

Baptist and Roman Catholic churches.

A source said: ‘We have asked what sort of system they have in place for verifying someone’s claim to have converted. The churches have been quite reluctant.

‘They said “We are the experts on this, leave it to us”. We are not satisfied with that. The ball is in their court to offer reassurance to the public and to us over the criteria they apply.’

‘We are the experts, leave it to us’