Bishop hits back at claims that Church is aiding fake asylum converts

The Bishop of Chelmsford has denied suggestions within the media that the Church of England has “aided and abetted” asylum seekers through the system by supporting fake conversions.

The Church has been on the back foot since an acid attack on a girl and two children in London’s Clapham South last week.

The suspect Abdul Ezedi, who continues to be being hunted by police, got here to the UK from Afghanistan and said he had converted to Christianity, along with his claim supported by a priest. He was granted asylum despite being convicted of a sexual assault in Newcastle in 2018.

Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman has claimed that “churches across the country” are “facilitating industrial-scale bogus asylum claims”.

The Bishop of Chelmsford, Guli Francis-Dehqani, has hit back on the claims within the The Telegraph.

The bishop, who got here to the UK as a refugee from Iran, said that religious ministers only endorse conversion claims “after careful assessment” and that “it’s unsuitable to think about this as some type of magic ticket” to asylum.

“The notion that an individual could also be fast-tracked through the asylum system, aided and abetted by the Church is solely inaccurate,” she said. 

She cited baptism guidance that tells ministers to be discerning about whether candidates fully understand the importance. 

She also said that responsibility for assessing and vetting asylum seekers’ claims lies with the Home Office. 

“As a Christian leader I make no apology for our involvement in supporting people who find themselves often deeply vulnerable and traumatised.

“But churches haven’t any power to avoid the Government’s duty to vet and approve applications – the responsibility for this rests with the Home Office,” she said. 

Dr Francis-Dehqani went on to dismiss suggestions of a link between bishops within the House of Lords opposing the federal government’s Rwanda plan, and abuse of the asylum system. 

“We usually are not politicians, and we all know that to be involved in political debate could be bruising,” she said.

“But those that have claimed a link between the abuse of our asylum system and the motion of bishops in Parliament are simply unsuitable.

“It is saddening to see this being implied by former holders of senior ministerial office, who’ve had opportunity but not sought to boost these concerns with senior clergy before.”