Church migrant checks ‘must be as strict as schools’
Senior MPS call for more rigorous scrutiny of asylum seekers who attempt to convert to Christianity
CHURCHES must conduct checks on asylum seekers that are as rigorous as those for school applications to protect against scam conversions, say senior MPS.
Tim Loughton, a former minister and member of the home affairs committee, said churches should overhaul their rules to require asylum seekers trying to convert to attend services for at least six months before they are considered for baptism.
He said the Church of England’s guidance on migrants seeking to convert was weighted too much towards helping them make their asylum claim more “credible” rather than asking tough questions about whether it was genuine.
It is understood the committee is to investigate the role of churches in the asylum process after Abdul Ezedi, the Clapham chemical attack suspect, was granted asylum after claiming to have converted to Christianity, despite having two convictions in the UK for sex assault and indecent exposure. Friends of Ezedi told The Telegraph he was a “good Muslim” who bought half a Halal sheep every fortnight.
James Cleverly, the Home Secretary, is reviewing the facts of the case to establish if the law needs to be overhauled to prevent such abuses.
Mr Loughton said: “If you are trying to get your child into a good local Catholic school, you have to go through all sorts of hoops. You have to attend church on a regular basis and tick all sorts of boxes. People still game the system but there is a much more robust management of the system to get into a church school.”
Catholic schools generally require a baptism certificate. Some demand parents provide a Certificate of Catholic Practice as proof that they are a practising Catholic family. Typically this would require the child and parent to have attended Sunday Mass and holy days on obligation for the past five years.
Mr Loughton said: “One of the suggestions is that there should be a sixmonth moratorium between someone arriving at the church and becoming part of the church.”
“There is nothing remotely like that in the Church of England guidance for dealing with asylum seeker conversions. It needs to set down some thresholds, targets and barriers that would give them greater satisfaction that this is a genuine person.”
It comes after The Telegraph revealed how judges have raised concerns that some “unquestioning” church leaders are “duped” by insincere asylum seekers converting to avoid deportation.
Immigration tribunal decisions analysed by this newspaper showed that the Home Office has repeatedly raised questions in court about the extent to which clergy are “probing” the true intentions of migrants seeking to convert from Islam to Christianity.
Migrants can claim asylum based on their conversion to a new religion if they face persecution in their home country because of their new faith.
In many cases religious ministers agree to support claims, as happened with Ezedi on his third asylum appeal. Judges questioned how church leaders were able to vouch for the faith of asylum seekers from Iran and Iraq when they were unable to communicate properly with them owing to a language barrier. In one case, a vicar claimed to have had an “in-depth” conversation with an Iranian-born migrant, despite the man himself saying the pair had never discussed his faith “one-to-one”.he said their interactions were limited to “greetings and asking how we are ... [With] broken English and hand signals.”
The Revd Matthew Firth, a Church of England whistleblower who quit to join the Free Church of England, said on Friday that the church needed to stop the “conveyor belt” of asylum baptisms that was encouraging fake conversions.