Church disputes claims large numbers of asylum seekers ‘abuse’ system by converting to Christianity

The Church of England has disputed claims that it has inadvertently helped hundreds of asylum seekers convert to Christianity in order for them to “abuse” the asylum system.

Emad Al Swealmeen, 32, the Iraqi asylum seeker killed in the abortive suicide bomb attack outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital on Remembrance Sunday, is thought to have become a Christian in 2015.

There have since been widespread claims in the media, attributed to Home Office sources, that it is "standard practice" among asylum seekers "to game the asylum system" by converting to Christianity and then claiming they are at risk of religious persecution in their home countries.

But a spokesperson for the Church of England said it was “not aware of any evidence to suggest a widespread correlation between conversion to Christianity, or any other faith, and abuse of the asylum system”.

They said the clergy must be “confident” that those seeking baptism “fully understand what it signifies”, adding that it was “not the role of clergy to establish the legitimacy of asylum claims and to assess security implications”.

When asked to provide evidence to back up the alleged claims from Home Office sources, the department declined to do so.

Malcolm Hitchcott, who housed al-Swealmeen after his asylum appeals failed in 2017, told the BBC that the would-be bomber used to pray and study the scriptures with him and his wife frequently.

“I was in no doubt by the time that he left us at the end of that eight months, that he was a Christian,” he added.

It comes as Priti Patel has been accused of stoking anger against lawyers with “grotesque” comments over the bombing.

The home secretary told journalists the attack was a reflection of Britain’s “dysfunctional” asylum system and took aim at a “whole professional legal services industry that has based itself on rights of appeal”.

“It’s a complete merry-go-round and it has been exploited – a whole sort of professional legal services industry has based itself on rights of appeal, going to the courts day-in day-out at the expense of the taxpayers through legal aid,” she was quoted as saying.

“There’s a whole industry that thinks it’s right to defend these individuals that cause the most appalling crimes against British citizens, devastating their lives, blighting communities – and that is completely wrong.”

Her comments came amid questions over why the Home Office had failed to deport the bomber after an asylum application failed, and how security services failed to spot at least seven months of preparations.

Bridget Chapman, of Kent Refugee Action Network, said the suggestion that people were “routinely gaming the system” was “ridiculous” and accused Ms Patel of “deliberately attempting to deflect growing criticism of her handling of the current situation”.

“In the past she made similar incendiary comments about ‘activist lawyers’ and we subsequently saw an alleged far-right attack on a solicitors’ office in London. She now appears to be reprising those comments, and to be targeting the Church of England with similar claims,” she added.

“It is true that the asylum system is dysfunctional but the blame for that lies firmly with the home secretary and her wrong-headed insistence on endless unworkable policies and performative tough talk.”