Church leaders urged to 'keep a closer eye' on migrants attempting to game asylum system

Church leaders are facing growing calls to help root out migrants gaming the asylum system, the Daily Express can reveal.

The Home Office wants to create a ‘working group’ with senior members of the clergy as fury continues to mount over the case of Clapham chemical attacker Abdul Ezedi.

Afghan Ezedi received a Muslim funeral and burial despite claiming to have converted to Christianity in a bid to convince an immigration judge to give him asylum.

The request for an Islamic service came from his friends and family, raising the prospect he had not abandoned his Muslim faith.

Home Office sources have warned the reputation of Christian churches could be damaged if they are viewed as undermining the integrity of the asylum system.

The Daily Express understands the working group will focus on how churches reach the decision to support asylum applications and how many migrants genuinely convert to Christianity.

Officials are said to be concerned it is currently too subjective and down to the “discretion” of individuals within different dioceses.

A source close to Home Secretary James Cleverly told the Daily Express: “We want to work with all the denominations of Christian churches to explain the way we apply our asylum criteria to grant or deny it.

“We explained conversion alone is not a guarantee of asylum being granted and we still stand by both Home Office decisions to deny asylum to Ezedi.

“However we also wanted to understand what guidelines each denomination had, across their clergy, for assessing the authenticity and validity of an individual’s conversion, especially if this was going to be vouched for within the asylum system.

“We had some reassurance in the meeting but it is fair to say we’d still like to see what structured processes there are, or should be for making such decisions especially when as in this case, the granting of asylum hinged on such a specific recommendation over other more negative factors, with sadly, dire consequences.

"We want the churches to keep a closer eye on this and to share as we will information on this issue."

Ezedi's body was found in the river Thames in February, ending a major manhunt after he was suspected of dousing his ex-girlfriend with alkali in a sickening attack in January.

A dossier of previously confidential documents revealed how Ezedi was granted asylum by a judge who accepted he was a Christian convert despite him failing basic questions about the religion and also being a convicted sex offender.

A Baptist priest endorsed Ezedi’s asylum application.

A letter from Reverend Roy Merrin, former ministry team leader at Grange Road Baptist Church, said Ezedi had "established a good relationship with the other church members and is always willing to help as required".

The letter stated: "Abdul has been ready to share his faith in Christ with non-Christians.

"I hope that this information will be of assistance, and I would support his application to remain in this country."

The files also revealed Ezedi was considered such a sexual threat he had to be accompanied during every church service.

Tory MP Tim Loughton said: “The tribunal overturned his refusal, despite the evidence it was all a bit of a scam, largely based on the evidence of a Baptist minister.

“These shocking revelations confirm what many of us have been saying for some time.

“There are too many migrants who are playing the Christianity card to try and scam the system.

“There's clearly a big disconnect between the home office procedures which found him out – that he didn't have a genuine case – and then the tribunal system which thought it knew better and upheld his appeal.

“That was largely based on the testimony of a Baptist minister who baptised him but who also had concerns about his sex offences.

“But in spite of that they still decided he should be able to stay in the country.

“Clearly the system isn't working and clearly too many people are gaming the system and there are too many priests within the churches who seem to be taken in by people like Ezedi.

“They all need more robust guidance than what they have presently.”

Conservative MP Henry Smith added: “The nativity of our immigration judiciary is sometimes simply staggering, but worst, dangerous to public safety.

“The fact that they believed that Ezedi, a convicted sex offender, with a history of attempts to falsely stay in the UK was believed on a spurious claim, shows that our immigration laws are not fit for purpose and need a complete, robust overhaul.”

Home Secretary James Cleverly met with senior members of the clergy after the shocking details of Ezedi’s apparent attempts to game the system emerged.

A source close to the Home Secretary said: “We wanted to relay the potential damage to those churches of being seen, rightly or wrongly, as acting against the integrity of our asylum system, where Christian conversion has been brought up at appeal. In this case, the consequences were appalling.

“That reputational risk is only amplified by the fact some who denied knowledge of Ezedi at the time had in fact known of him within their church, and had supported and vouched for him.”

Ministers are scrambling to restore confidence in the UK’s asylum system after the Channel migrant crisis exposed a number of weaknesses.

But Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Home Secretary James Cleverly were dealt a further blow on Wednesday as new figures revealed the number of migrants in the first three months of this year was a new record.

According to provisional Home Office figures, 338 people arrived in seven boats on Tuesday, taking the total for the year to date to 4,644.

This exceeds the previous record high figure of 4,548 for January to March 2022 and had already surpassed the 3,793 arrivals in the first quarter of last year.

The number of crossings recorded so far this year is 23% higher than the total at this point in 2023 (3,770) and 12% higher than the same time in 2022 (4,162), analysis of government data shows.

Last year a total of 29,437 migrants arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel, down 36% on a record 45,774 arrivals in 2022.

The figures come after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak continued to insist his plan to "stop the boats" is working even though crossings in 2024 are tracking ahead of recent years.

Downing Street declared Mr Sunak's administration was dealing with a "migration emergency" after a record day for crossings last week. Some 514 people made the journey in 10 boats on March 20, making it the busiest day since the start of the year.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said the "deterrent factor" of Rwanda will help to prevent Channel crossings, and blamed Labour for slowing its progress.

"It is now stuck in the House of Lords and the House of Commons, held up by Labour MPs and Labour peers," she told reporters.

Ms Keegan added: "We need to get on with it."

But Tory former immigration minister Robert Jenrick said the Government was failing to do "whatever it takes" to stop the boats.

He said: "When I resigned last year I said the Government's approach to illegal migration was a triumph of hope over experience. And so it is proving.

"The public rightly demands and expects us to stop the boats. When they say they'll do 'whatever it takes', the Government should mean it."

A spokesperson for the Church of England said: "It remains the role of the Home Office and the courts to vet and assess asylum cases.

“As the Home Office Minister confirmed earlier this month, there is no evidence of widespread abuse of the asylum process involving churches. Christian conversion is clearly not a determinative factor in the decision making."