To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they provide religious literacy training to staff who decide asylum applications.
Answered on
4 April 2019
The Home Office have worked closely with the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for International Freedom of Religion or Belief and the Asylum Advocacy Group (AAG) for many years, to help improve their approach to religious based claims and have recently worked with them to develop and produce a specialist training package.
The aim of this course is to ensure that where religion or belief is raised in an asylum claim, asylum decision makers appropriately consider all the available evidence in accordance with International, European & Domestic law and Home Office Asylum Policy, when interviewing asylum applicants and making decisions on their claims.
The Asylum Learning and Development Team (AL&D) also delivers the Foundation Training Programme (FTP) to all new asylum decision makers. This intensive five-week course provides staff with training on all aspects of asylum decision making, including religious-based claims, religious conversion and has been endorsed by the UNHCR. During the course, trainees consider case studies involving religion or belief-based persecution. This course is followed by a period of mentoring.