'Infidel' fear for Iranian refugee

Baptised into Sheffield’s Christ Church Central last year, the man in his 30s says deportation to his hard-line Islamic homeland would violate his fundamental human right to practice his faith.

The former Muslim says he feels his Christian faith so strongly he will be bound to “proselytise” his religion in Iran and face harassment and persecution as an “ infidel”.

Now two Appeal Court judges have given their backing to his legal campaign for a safe haven in Britain, after agreeing he has a “real prospect of success” in challenging the Immigration Appeal Tribunal’s refusal earlier this year to grant him asylum in the UK.

Lord Justice Tuckey said the IAT, while accepting he was a genuine Christian convert, had said his new faith was “not long-standing” and he “did not have any particular religious zeal or proselytising bent”.

The IAT also suggested the Iranian authorities need not even find out about his Christian faith if he abstained from going to church or otherwise actively practising his faith.

However the judge, sitting with Lord Justice Rix, said the IAT’s stance was “at least arguably an error of law” and granted the man - referred to in court only as H - permission to appeal.

The man’s barrister, Paul Draycott, argued the nature of his evangelical faith would drive him to try to spread the word in Iran and he would inevitably face persecution as a result.

Lord Justice Tuckey said He arrived in Britain, via Turkey, in 2000. He claimed to have fled his homeland after being arrested, tortured and harassed by the Iranian authorities. He also claimed to have been involved in demonstrations outside the Iranian embassy since his arrival in Britain.

However, his claims that he reasonably feared persecution - even death - if sent back to Iran were dismissed as “not credible” and “fabricated” and he was refused asylum.

However, Lord Justice Tuckey said his conversion to Christianity - backed up from his church’s Minister, Tim Davies - had added a “new dimension” to his case.

Lord Justice Rix said there were “puzzling aspects” to the IAT’s decision. The evidence of his Christian conversion was unchallenged and there was a real risk that, if sent back to Iran, he would be treated as an ‘infidel”.

The man’s case will now return to the Appeal Court for a one-day hearing, before three Lords Justice of Appeal.