Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how they assess the credibility of religious conversion in asylum applications.

All asylum and human rights claims are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations, meaning religious conversions do not guarantee a grant of refugee status.

Home Office policy guidance provides a framework for considering asylum claims and assessing credibility. When assessing claims based on religious persecution, caseworkers are expected to ask appropriate and sensitive questions to explore a claimant’s personal experiences and journey to their new faith and gather evidence of current religious practice.

Our processes are underpinned by a robust quality assurance review process. Decision makers and quality assessors must adhere to the interview and decision marking standards, which are shared with caseworkers to improve understanding when receiving feedback.

We have engaged with a wide range of stakeholders to help us to improve our policy guidance, training for asylum decision-makers, and to ensure we approach claims involving religious conversion in the appropriate way.