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The Iranian national was turned down for asylum in 2016, with the Home Office claiming his conversion from Islam was “inconsistent” with his claim Christianity is a peaceful religion. In the rejection letter from the Government department, published by the Iranian’s immigration case worker this week, six passages from the Bible are listed, with a claim made that Revelations is filled with “images of revenge, destruction, death and violence”. The letter also uses six examples from searchable online holy book Bible Gateway, and quotes parts of The Book of Leviticus from the Old Testament.

I’ve seen a lot over the years, but even I was genuinely shocked to read this unbelievably offensive diatribe being used to justify a refusal of asylum Nathan Stevens

The full statement below the verses says: “These examples are inconsistent with your claim that you converted to Christianity after discovering it is a peaceful religion, as opposed to Islam which contains violence, rage and revenge.” Nathan Stevens, an immigration caseworker, posted excerpts from the letter on his Twitter page, launching into a stinging attack against the Home Office for the “unbelievably offensive diatribe”. He wrote: “I’ve seen a lot over the years, but even I was genuinely shocked to read this unbelievably offensive diatribe being used to justify a refusal of asylum. “Whatever your views on faith, how can a government official arbitrarily pick bits out of a holy book and then use them to trash someone’s heartfelt reason for coming to a personal decision to follow another faith.”

Immigration caseworker Nathan Stevens criticised the Home Office over the content in the letter

Immigration caseworker Nathan Stevens posted parts of the letter on Twitter

In another post on Twitter, Mr Stevens said his client will be appealing the decision and will resubmitting a complaint to the Home Office. He referred to text from another rejection letter, and wrote: “You affirmed in your AIR that Jesus is your saviour, but then claimed that He would not be able to save you from the Iranian regime. “It is therefore considered that you have no conviction in your faith and your belief in Jesus is half-hearted.” Mr Stevens added in a separate post: “Government backs FoRB (Freedom of Religion or Belief) training course for asylum decision-makers - The APPG for International Freedom of Religion or Belief - this is from October 2018 and govt confirmed they would roll this out in the New Year. No evidence of this that I have seen!”

The content of the letter to the Iranian national has sparked outrage and surprise among experts in the field. Legal expert Conor James McKinney, deputy editor of website Free Movement, told MailOnline: “Immigration lawyers often speak of a “culture of disbelief” among the officials that make these life-or-death asylum decisions. “This case seems to be an extreme example of an individual official manufacturing a reason to refuse an asylum claim, and the Home Office acknowledges that it was out of line, but those working with asylum seekers do report horror stories almost as bad on a regular basis.” Stephen Evans, chief executive of the National Secular Society, hit out at the Home Office for using “theological justifications for refusing asylum applications”.

The rejection letter contains several passages from the Bible