As many as 40 asylum seekers on the Bibby Stockholm barge are said to be converting to Christianity, sparking fears that migrants are claiming to have changed their religion in order to be granted asylum.
Earlier this week it was revealed that Abdul Shokoor Ezedi, the suspected Clapham chemical attacker, was granted asylum after he converted to the religion, despite having previous convictions of two sex offences.
Of the 300 migrants on the Bibby Stockholm barge, nearly one in seven are attending churches under supervision from local faith leaders, a church elder told the BBC.
There is growing concern over the role of the churches in supporting asylum seekers in conversion to Christianity.
As many as forty asylum seekers on the Bibby Stockholm barge are said to be converting to Christianity
PA
On his second attempt to seek asylum in the UK, Ezedi claimed that he had converted to Christianity - which would put his life at risk if he returned home to Afghanistan.
At his third appeal, a priest vouched for his conversion claiming he was "wholly committed" to his new faith.
A Government source said: “There are clearly general questions about whether it is really possible to credibly substantiate the validity of a religious conversion, particularly where that opinion might be a main defence and carry very important implications.”
David Rees, a church elder and education consultant, told the BBC that 40 asylum seekers on the Dorset barge had converted to Christianity, or were in the process of doing so.
He said: "Local faith leaders have visited the barge and work with the council and the barge management in looking after these guys."
Rees said that many of the migrants had either converted in their home countries or on Christian courses in the UK, such as Alpha.
Of the 300 migrants on the Bibby Stockholm barge, nearly one in seven are attending churches under supervision from local faith leaders, a church elder told the BBC
PA
The church elder said he is confident that all 40 of the migrants on board the Bibby Stockhold who are undergoing conversions are doing so genuinely.
He said: "Obviously, we need to make sure that they believe in the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit and repent of their sins and also they want to start a new life in the church.
"So those are the sort of questions that we ask them, and they have to give a public testimony, at their baptism, which they did in their native language, and it was translated into English.
"There were no qualms at all about the content of that testimony, which was clear and conclusive about their faith in Jesus Christ.”
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Ezedi, 35, allegedly attacked a mum and her two kids with a corrosive alkaline liquid on Wednesday in Clapham, South London.
A national manhunt was launched, with investigators putting up a £20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Ezedi.
The last confirmed sighting of Ezedi was when he left Tower Hill Underground station at 9.33pm on Wednesday. Ezedi had changed trains at Victoria, where he arrived on the Victoria Line at 9.10pm.
Officers are urging people not to approach him. The search for Ezedi, an asylum seeker thought to have arrived in the UK in 2016 from Afghanistan on the back of a lorry is entering its sixth day.
In 2018, he was convicted at Newcastle Crown Court of sexual assault and indecent exposure and was given a 45-week suspended prison sentence and placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.