Asylum 'pray to stay' row deepens as it emerges Iranian migrant 'told officials he converted to Christianity despite only knowing one commandment' - as CoE comes under fire for helping chemical attacker Abdul Ezedi beat system by baptising him

The row over asylum seekers who claim they have converted to Christianity has deepened after it emerged one migrant only knew one of the 10 Commandments.

The unnamed Iranian migrant didn't know that Jesus was born in Bethlehem when he was asked in a religion test.

The 42-year-old didn't attend church and hadn't been baptised, but told immigration officials he was a practising Christian after his application for refugee status was rejected in 2019.

A tribunal in which he appealed the decision heard that his claim to Christianity 'was not the strongest,' The Sun reported.

Judge Graeme Clarke rejected his bid to stay after making 'damning credibility findings'.

It comes after the Church of England came under fire for helping Abdul Ezedi stay in the UK after he was granted asylum when a priest vouched he had converted to Christianity.

Ezedi was subject to a nationwide manhunt after he allegedly poured chemicals on his former partner and her children in January. His body was later found in the Thames. 

The Clapham chemical attacker was given a Muslim funeral and burial despite claiming to have converted to Christianity. He said he was 'wholly committed' to his new religion.

The 35-year-old Afghan national had twice been refused asylum by the Home Office, and was considered so dangerous by the Baptist Church that it drew up a 'safeguarding contract' for the safety of parishioners over his sex assault and exposure convictions.

MPs criticised both the Government and the church for the way Ezedi's case was handled.

Labour said the Government had serious questions to answer over how Ezedi was able to remain in the UK.

In another case, a Nigerian man in his 60s claimed he would be persecuted for converting to Christianity if he was forced to return home.

He had 'almost no knowledge' of Islam and lived in Lagos for years as a Christian - and his appeal was rejected, The Sun reports.

James Cleverly told the newspaper it is time to 'shine a light' on immigration tribunals which allow asylum seekers to stay in the UK with no public record.

In February, The Home Secretary launched an investigation into how the asylum system deals with migrants who have converted to Christianity amid claims 40 men on the Bibby Stockholm barge were being baptised.

MPs raised concerns that migrants from majority Muslim countries are converting to Christianity in order to claim they are at risk of persecution in their home nations due to their religious beliefs.

Following Prime Minister's Questions at the time, the Archbishop of Canterbury issued a statement hitting out at the 'mischaracterisation of the role of churches and faith groups in the asylum system'.

'It is the job of the government to protect our borders and of the courts to judge asylum cases,' he said.

'The church is called to love, mercy and do justice.

'I encourage everyone to avoid irresponsible and inaccurate comments - and let us not forget that at the heart of this conversation are vulnerable people whose lives are precious in the sight of God.'

The Church of England has recently come under fire for allegedly 'facilitating industrial-scale bogus asylum claims', with former Home Secretaries Suella Braverman and Dame Priti Patel accusing church leaders of 'political activism'. 

Poppy Day bomber Emad Al Swealmeen was baptised in 2015 at Liverpool Cathedral and went on to be confirmed in 2017 after his claim for asylum was rejected in 2014.

But the cathedral 'lost contact' with him the following year – with the bishop who carried out his confirmation service saying yesterday he had 'no specific recollection' of Al Swealmeen.

Rev Mohammed Eghtedarian, a clergyman at the cathedral, admitted in 2016 'plenty of people' were lying about their intentions after it also emerged that the Church of England had christened hundreds of asylum seekers under a scheme dubbed 'pray to stay'.

Al Swealmeen had reportedly repeatedly appealed after his asylum claim was rejected and had a legal challenge outstanding when he blew himself up.

Malcolm Hitchcott, who with his wife Elizabeth took him in for almost a year, said: 'The UK asylum people were never convinced he was Syrian and he was refused asylum in 2014.

'He had his case rejected because he has been sectioned due to some mental health incident where he was waving a knife at people from an overpass'.

Mr Hitchcott, a former lay minister at Liverpool Cathedral, previously expressed concern about asylum seekers pretending to convert to bolster their visa applications.

But he believes Almeni was genuine and would 'talk endlessly and passionately about Jesus'.

A spokesman for the Church of England said it was not the role of the clergy 'to establish the legitimacy of asylum claims and to assess security implications'.

They added: 'We are not aware of any evidence to suggest a widespread correlation between conversion to Christianity, or any other faith, and abuse of the asylum system.'

A spokesman for Liverpool Cathedral said the church had developed 'robust processes' for spotting if someone is not genuine when committing to Christianity.

There is no reason to suggest that Al Swealmeen's conversion from Islam was not genuine, and sources stressed his baptism was not a factor in his repeated asylum claims.

However, a counter-extremism think-tank called for an investigation into the 'Liverpool Cathedral convert cluster'.

Rev Eghtedarian said in 2016: 'People are desperate for a better life and sometimes they will lie for it – that's understandable.

'There are many people abusing the system... I'm not ashamed of saying that. But is it the person's fault or the system's fault? And who are they deceiving? The Home Office, me as a pastor, or God?'

The Home Office has previously said converting to Christianity does not automatically result in a successful asylum claim.

The Church of England has said baptism is 'open to all'.