Court Denied Asylum to Converted Refugees and Increased Risk of Deportation

Case information
Incident date
Country
Germany
Place
Bayern
Categories
  • Government Restrictions
Attack Against
  • Faith
Perpetrator / Motive Indicators
  • Political
  • Private
Societal Sphere
  • Governmental
Religious Freedom / Discrimination
  • Other (text field)
  • Access to Justice or Services
  • Discrimination
  • Freedom of Religion
Place of Incident
  • Other (text field)
Bias Indicators
  • Racial/Ethnic/Gender/Cultural Differences
Reported to Police
  • Unknown
Response of Local Authorities
  • Unknown
Symbolic image; not a photograph of the reported incident.Image credit: Nathaniel Shuman on Unsplash

In Germany, the asylum for refugees converted to Christianity has diminished significantly in the last years, according to the Organization Open Doors. The cases vary depending on the federal state and court. In the province of Bayern, the parishes have increasing problems with the state institutions regarding converted. The Administrative Court denies the refugees their decision of their faith being genuine and reject their asylum application. These Christians could face severe sentences including the death sentence for converting to Christianity if they are deported.

These should not be able to decide by the Court, which in many cases doesn't have sensibility for religion.

Also, many churches face legal problems for granting church asylum. For example the Mother Mechthild is threatened with a prison sentence for abetting illegal residence, because she granted asylum in several cases. Now with the "Orderly Return Law" there are more restrictions and increasing risk of deportation.

"My impression is that church aid organizations and initiatives are also increasingly being put in the way of obstacles. The subject of deportation is coming more and more to the fore," says Dieter Müller, who works at the Jesuit Refugee Aid. (Süddeutsche)

Sources