Researchers at an international Christian charity have urged immigration officials in countries where Iranian converts make asylum claims to focus their questions on the claimant’s “personal experience of Christianity”, rather than the extent of their theological understanding.

Open Doors International’s report encourages officials to “explore when and where the claimant’s personal experience of Christianity began and the steps taken on the way to full acceptance of the new faith”, and for the interview “not [to] be reduced to a mere collection of data describing the journey from Iran to the country of destination, or to a description of exact dates when the person was first introduced to the new faith”.

Several countries have faced criticism for the types of questions asked of Iranians claiming to have fled persecution at home after converting to Christianity.

In March, the UK’s immigration service came under fire for using verses from the Bible to contradict the claims of an asylum seeker who said he’d converted to Christianity because it was a “peaceful” religion. The UK has since hired clerics to train its staff in religious literacy.

Open Doors International’s report acknowledges that interviewers have a “difficult task” in determining the genuineness of a claimant’s faith and therefore suggests “considerable weight” should be given to the testimony of church leaders.

“Often, the church in the asylum country has spent considerable time with a claimant, having received the claimant into a church as a new member,” the report says.

“Christians – including converts – are one of the most persecuted religious minorities in Iran,” it says.

“Returning a genuine Christian to Iran – whether a convert to Christianity or an ethnic-minority Christian – would subject the convert to ill-treatment, deprivation of fundamental human rights including clear violations of one’s Freedom of Religion and Belief, and potentially expose the individual to life-threatening danger.”

Open Doors International

The report notes that Christians are seen as a “growing threat” and are closely monitored, “especially those who have contacts with Christians outside Iran, converted from Islam to Christianity, or those who provide assistance to and training for those wishing to convert, or simply provide Persian-language Christian materials”. 

As a result, the report says the Iranian government is increasingly able to identify Christians, even those practising in secret.

If identified, the report notes that Christians will, “at minimum, suffer substantial harm or interference with life by way of deprivation of liberty, denial of education and employment opportunities, assaults and continual harassment; or in the worst case, the individual could face severe mistreatment and even death”. 

It concludes: “Despite allegations by the Iranian government that its laws respect and recognise the Christian community, the Christian community in Iran faces systemic and systematic state persecution and discrimination. Returning a genuine Christian to Iran – whether a convert to Christianity or an ethnic-minority Christian – would subject the convert to ill-treatment, deprivation of fundamental human rights including clear violations of one’s Freedom of Religion and Belief, and potentially expose the individual to life-threatening danger.