Precisely how asylum seekers ‘lie about faith and being homosexual’ to remain in UK

A whistleblowing asylum seeker has informed the Express he is aware of migrants who’ve intentionally transformed to Christianity merely to spice up their probabilities of remaining within the UK.

Bilal Jaf claimed it was properly established amongst groups of migrants coming to Britain that altering religions was an efficient technique for bolstering an asylum case.

“The best way to get a paper [giving you the legal right to stay] in Europe is if you can convert from Muslim to Christian,” he informed the Express. “If they know you are atheist and convert there it’s not [as effective]. They will visit a church until they get a paper [to stay in Britain]. After that they don’t care and don’t go.

“The second way [to boost claims] is to change their sexuality to be gay or lesbian or to say they identify [as a different gender].”

A video circulated on social media and obtained by the Express helps Jaf’s claims. In it, a person urges a devastated pal whose asylum software has simply been denied, to transform to Christianity by telling him he is aware of of two others who managed to remain within the UK this fashion.

Iraqi Kurd Jaf’s revelations come as MPs put together to quiz senior church leaders about how conversions are being used to bolster asylum claims, at a listening to on Tuesday.

The Home Affairs Select Committee has been tasked with analyzing how church buildings assess the “genuineness of a conversion” in addition to assessing the method they absorb supporting migrants who change faith as they apply to remain within the UK.

Tory MP Marco Longhi, the MP who has demanded the inquiry, mentioned he was happy he’d have the chance to grill the church leaders within the wake of the Express’s findings.

“The Archbishop and other Bishops have consistently frustrated all government attempts to deal with illegal immigration and go against the will of the people,” he said.

Tim Loughton, a Tory member of the Home Affairs Select Committee, added: “This confirms what we have suspected all along that there are bogus asylum seekers who are gaming our immigration system and taking advantage of the generosity of British taxpayers.

“I fear that certain church leaders have been too gullible in accepting some of these Damascene conversions and I welcome the recent announcement that the Church of England is revisiting its guidance on this issue but there are other churches who have been played who have no formal guidance at all and need to look urgently at remedying this.

“So, when even asylum seekers blow a whistle over what has been taking place it’s proper that they need to face questioning.”

A devout Muslim, Jaf takes a dim view of anyone who chooses to use religion to manipulate the system. He was also frustrated to hear about such cases progressing when he’d been waiting for a decision on his case for three years.

“Many of them don’t care about dignity, about religion, nothing is important for them they just want to get the paper [allowing them to stay in Britain],” he added.

Jaf has reported people to authorities who he believes to be attempting to manipulate the system. But he said a tougher stance taken by the Home Office had resulted in an escalation in the behaviour of those who claimed to have converted to Christianity.

In several cases, which the Express has seen video evidence of, asylum seekers in Britain filmed themselves burning and burying the Koran live on Facebook. These acts were being used, Jaf claims, to generate death threats to bolster an asylum case.

The migrant added that he was not surprised by asylum seeker converts who had gone on to commit horrific acts of violence, like Abdul Shokoor Ezedi who attacked a mother and child with acid earlier this year or Emad Al Swealmeen who tried to blow up a Liverpool hospital in 2021.

“The guy who converts for the reason [of staying in Britain] is not a good guy, they don’t have humanity or morals,” he said.

The asylum seeker revealed that it was also well-established amongst migrants that convincing a vicar to support a claim was a powerful tool.

One Church of England priest who has overseen numerous conversions of asylum seeker converts seeking to stay in the UK is Chris Howson, a chaplain at the University of Sunderland and priest on staff at Sunderland Minster.

Howson pushed back against any suggestion the system is being played.

“You have to go to court as a witness [to support the case of a convert] and the Home Office will, quite rightly, grill you properly,” he told the Express.

“They make sure you’ve done a lengthy baptism course and it is appropriately translated into languages that people understand. We don’t just baptise anyone and kick people off courses who we don’t think are genuine.”

The North East-based priest said the number of converts he’d overseen had fallen post-Covid as a result of fewer asylum seekers have been being housed within the area. But lots of these he’d helped claimed to be fleeing persecution below the Islamic regime in Iran, an analogous area from which Jaf hails.

Howson claimed the upper variety of Iranians changing was each a results of a development of Protestantism within the nation and due to efforts by the Church of England to work with asylum seekers as soon as they arrived.

“People encountered a warm and loving welcome in churches in cities and towns around the country,” he added. “That’s been a different experience to the experience of Islam at home and they’ve wanted it and have become Christians.”

This was some extent Jaf disagreed with, suggesting that there have been tens of 1000’s of Christians who existed peacefully in each Iran and Kurdistan.

The Sunderland-based priest admitted as a result of converts to Christianity typically moved away, as soon as that they had gained the suitable to remain in Britain it was troublesome to maintain observe of all these he’d identified to have transformed.

“They encounter all sorts of racism going for houses and things like that so it’s a difficult environment to stay [in Sunderland]. There are very few jobs for them and people move on,” he continued.

“We try and keep in touch as much we can. [But] it is not possible to continually chase the people who have come through the system.”

We requested the Church of England the way it justified and evidenced the truthfulness of these changing to Christianity who’re determined for a route to remain within the UK.

The Church didn’t instantly reply to that query however in a press release from a spokesperson mentioned: “Baptism marks the beginning of someone’s lifelong journey with God. It is intended as a joyful moment to give thanks for what God has done for us in Christ, turn away from sin, make serious promises and declare our faith, not as a step in the asylum or immigration system.”

The Express additionally requested how the Church counteracts folks performing within the method described by Jaf. A spokesperson for the Church responded by saying: “It is the duty of the Home Office, not churches, to make decisions on asylum applications.

“Christians are persecuted in many countries. While some people come to faith in Christ after seeking asylum in this country, others fled their country of origin because of persecution for their faith and seeking baptism is a natural progression of a faith journey that already begun.

“The Church of England welcomes everyone and celebrates with those who choose to make a commitment to Christ. Of course, as our guidance makes clear, there is also a need for discernment so clergy must be confident those seeking baptism fully understand what it signifies. Indeed our experience is that people don’t take baptism lightly – many are worried about the repercussions family members still in their home country may face.”

Responding to the problems raised on this article a Home Office spokesperson mentioned: “All asylum claims are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with the immigration rules. This means that religious conversions do not guarantee a grant of asylum.

“We have engaged with a wide range of stakeholders to help us to improve our policy guidance, training for asylum decision-makers, and to ensure we approach claims involving religious conversion in the appropriate way.”