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Dr Rowan Williams has hit back at Suella Braverman and Dame Priti Patel after the former Home Secretaries accused British churches of supporting “bogus” asylum claims.
The former Archbishop of Canterbury questioned what evidence there was of widespread abuse of the system. It comes amid the ongoing row over Clapham chemical attack suspect Abdul Ezedi, whose asylum application was accepted after a priest vouched he had converted to Christianity.
Ms Braverman claimed churches were “facilitating industrial-scale bogus asylum claims”. Ms Patel accused church leaders of “political activism” and said religious institutions were supporting claims “without merit”.
Afghan asylum seeker Ezedi, 35, was twice denied asylum before being allowed to stay after he reportedly received a written testimonial from a Baptist minister and backing from the Catholic Church.
Dr Williams told i: “What clear documented evidence is there of systematic or widespread abuse of claims of conversion?
“There are one or two cases that have attracted wide publicity, and my guess is that the vast majority of Christian pastors would be well aware of the risk of false claims. What evidence is there that this is a large-scale problem?
“More significantly, what evidence is there that Christian clergy are deliberately colluding in any such phenomenon?”
He added: “If there is no such...
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