by Tim Sigsworth, Telegraph
Conversion to Christianity ‘abused on an industrial scale’ to support asylum claims, says shadow home secretary
Migrants are being baptised in asylum hotel bathtubs by a Christian charity, The Telegraph can reveal.
Asylum seekers have undergone baptisms in taxpayer-funded accommodation despite concerns that Muslim migrants are only going through the process to gain asylum.
Carelinks Ministries, a registered charity linked to the minority Christadelphian sect, has visited hotels across Britain to conduct baptisms in migrants’ bathrooms.
A number of migrants who became Christadelphian after arriving in Britain have, in recent years, won asylum under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) by arguing they would face persecution if returned to their home countries.
Christadelphians are a minority sect that rejects core Christian beliefs such as the Trinity.
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, told The Telegraph that bathtub baptisms were “insanity” and proved the asylum system needed to be “completely dismantled”.
The revelations will fuel concerns that asylum seekers are continuing to fake religious conversions more than a year after Abdul Ezedi, who was granted asylum after being baptised, attacked a woman and two children with a chemical substance.
Churches faced scrutiny over migrant baptisms last year when details of Ezedi’s conversion to Christianity emerged, despite being described by friends as a “good Muslim” who still ate Halal meat.