Claims that asylum seekers are on a ‘conveyor belt of baptism’ to win the right to remain in the UK are ‘nonsense’, the diocese says, while the Church of England says it will be ‘happy to engage’ with the government

The Church of England will “gladly engage” with the government over its work with asylum seekers, a senior official has said, as a diocese whose former priest blasts claims of a “conveyor belt of baptisms” as “nonsense”.

The case of Clapham alkali attack suspect Abdul Ezedi, who successfully challenged his asylum refusal after converting to Christianity, has led to accusations that people are converting to Christianity to help them secure their stay in the UK.

Ezedi is believed to have been supported in his claim by someone from a Baptist church rather than the Church of England, but the case has sparked strong debate on the issue of conversions in general.

A Conservative MP this week accused the church of issuing ‘secret guidance to clergy supporting asylum claims’ and the Archbishop of Canterbury of ‘swindling’ taxpayers.

Former immigration minister Robert Jenrick has spoken of conversions ‘aided and abetted by often well-meaning but naïve priests and clergy’, while former home secretary Suella Braverman said that during her tenure she ‘became aware of churches around the country facilitating the industrial scale of false asylum applications’.

He is believed to have walked onto Chelsea Bridge in west London

The Diocese of Durham said claims that asylum seekers are on a ‘conveyor belt of baptisms’ to win the right to stay in the UK are nonsense.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, spoke this week of his disappointment at the “mischaracterization of the role of churches and faith groups in the asylum system”.

The subject of asylum and the church will not be formally debated at the upcoming meeting of the Synod – known as the church’s parliament – later this month, but could be raised by a member for ‘some discussion’, William Nye said.

Sir. Nye, the general secretary of the synod, told reporters at a briefing on Friday: ‘The agenda for the general synod is set by the executive committee of the general synod, which will have set the agenda a little while ago to enable papers to be drawn up.

‘So as you will see if you look at the agenda, there is not a formal point on the issue you are raising about asylum. It is possible that it may appear that a member of the Synod could ask a question in the Synod’s question, which would make it possible for some discussion to occur, but there is no room for a formal debate.’

A Home Office minister said this week that training for asylum case workers in assessing the credibility of a religious conversion is being rolled out.

The church said there has been no direct contact from the government about this yet, but Mr Nye said the church would be “happy to engage” with the government on all matters of faith and religious literacy.

Forensic police at the scene on Wednesday night near Clapham following the attack

CCTV footage of Abdul Ezedi (bottom right wearing a black jacket), the suspect in the Clapham alkaline drug attack, crossing Chelsea Bridge

He told the briefing: ‘We are always happy to work with the Government on anything and while, as the Bishop of Chelmsford has said, actual decisions on asylum are for the Home Office or, if contested, then for the relevant courts – nevertheless, if the Home Office wishes to cooperate with the Church of England on a matter like this, we will be happy to engage in dialogue with them.’

The comments come as the Diocese of Durham strongly disputed comments made by Matthew Firth, a former priest at a church in Darlington, who told The Telegraph he had to put an end to the conveyor belt and veritable industry of asylum baptisms that was taking place . ‘.

A spokesman for the diocese said: ‘His claims that the church is a ‘conveyor belt’ for the baptism of asylum seekers are nonsense.’

He said they had checked church records and found a total of 15 baptisms since 2014 of people who ‘may have been asylum seekers’, out of a total of around 80 in that period.

He said Mr Firth had not reported “anything wrong” during his “short period” at the church and if he had, the allegations “would have been taken seriously and investigated”.

The spokesman said the diocese is “proud of the valuable work all our churches in Darlington do to ensure asylum seekers and refugees are welcomed”.

Meanwhile, the synod, which will take place in London from February 23 to 27, will consider issues of biodiversity, safeguarding and progressing its work on blessings for same-sex couples.

It will also discuss racial justice and the war in Ukraine and its wider impact.