Migrants are being baptised in bathtubs at taxpayer-funded asylum hotels by a Christian charity.
During the ceremonies, asylum seekers are submerged in the water and are then deemed to have been converted to Christianity.
It comes amid concerns that Muslim migrants are only going through the process to try and gain asylum in the UK.
Carelinks Ministries, a registered charity linked to the minority Christadelphian sect, is understood to have visited migrant hotels to carry out the baptisms.
A photo in a now-deleted social media post appears to show a female asylum seeker being converted to Christianity in a bath.
The baptism was carried out by Carelinks volunteer Duncan Heaster, who travels around the world to welcome people into the Christian faith.
When approached by the Daily Mail, Mr Heaster confirmed that he had baptised one asylum seeker in a hotel bathroom.
‘I baptise anyone who wants to become a Christian,’ he said, but added that the vast majority of people he converts are not migrants.
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, described bathtub baptisms as ‘insanity’ and called for the asylum seeker system to be ‘dismantled’.
An image in a now-deleted social media post appears to show a female asylum seeker being converted to Christianity in a bath
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, described bathtub baptisms as ‘insanity’ and called for the asylum seeker system to be ‘dismantled’
He told The Telegraph: ‘The insanity of baptising illegal immigrants in a bathtub shows that this whole system is now beyond a joke and needs to be completely dismantled.’
‘The Government should immediately stop accepting all conversions in the UK as a basis for granting asylum,’ he added.
‘It is being abused on an industrial scale and this madness has to end, and vicars who sign off obviously should be prosecuted for assisting immigration fraud.’
Mr Philp’s comments come after a number of asylum seekers who have become Christadelphian in recent years have argued they should be able to stay in the UK as they would face religious persecution if they returned home.
Christadelphians are a minority sect within Christianity that rejects some of the religion’s core beliefs such as the Holy Trinity.
Since 2019, at least six migrants have tried to claim asylum in the UK after converting to the doctrine.
While four of the six claims were dismissed by immigration judges, one succeeded in 2019 after it was ruled that an Iranian man had ‘a well-founded fear of persecution on return to Iran on grounds of his religion’.
Meanwhile last year, Abdul Ezedi, who was granted asylum after being baptised, became the subject of a nationwide manhunt after he attacked a woman with a chemical substance in Clapham, south London.
Clapham chemical attacker Abdul Ezedi was given a Muslim funeral and burial, despite claiming to have converted to Christianity when he was granted asylum
The 35-year-old Afghan national’s body was later found in the River Thames and he was given a Muslim burial.
He 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.
Both Mr Heaster and Carelinks Ministries have said they have no involvement in asylum applications and have no influence over whether or not they are granted.
The Church of England has also denied claims that it is operating a ‘conveyor belt’ of baptisms.
However, its current guidance to clergy admits that some migrants believe ‘converting to Christianity will help their asylum claim’.
A spokesman for Carelinks said: ‘Carelinks takes no part in the process of helping any individual to claim asylum.
‘Applications for asylum are a private matter between the claimant and the state, and it is up to the claimant to show to the tribunal that their conversion to Christianity is genuine.’
