The district court of Traunstein has imposed life sentence on the 30 years old Afghan refugee Hamidullah M., who had brutally murdered a mother of four from Afghanistan, because she had converted from Islam to Christianity. The crime against the woman, who, apart from this, was unknown to him, happened in front of a Lidl store with 16 knife stabs in sight of two sons (5 and 11 years old). The court and the prosecutor stated the particular severity of the guilt and did not follow the defence’s line of argument, that the fact had to be taken into account as mitigating, that from earliest age he was confronted with violence, blood and death (see, for example, the SPIEGEL ONLINE article “Lifelong imprisonment for murder of a converted woman”, 09.02.2018, in German).

In discussion with the Presiding Bishop of the Protestant Churches in Germany and the Bishop for ecumenical Relations in front of the Berlin Cathedral © BQ/Warnecke

In discussion with the Presiding Bishop of the Protestant Churches in Germany and the Bishop for ecumenical Relations in front of the Berlin Cathedral © BQ/Warnecke

Whoever was thinking, that the claims of converts from Islam to Christianity of being threatened, whether it be by relatives and by fellow countrymen (as in the cases of Afghanistan or Pakistan), or by their home countries (as in the case of Iran) are overstated or ostensible, has now once more received evidence, that this is a matter of bitter reality.

Countless media inquiries show, that throughout Europe such converts are being persecuted, such as recently the radio broadcast by Daniel Guthmann and Marcus Latton “On the Run from Allah” (in German) from Feb 11th 2018 on NDR Info. There both, Christians, who formerly were Moslems, and atheists, who formerly were Moslems, report about being constantly threatened by their countrymen. Iran, Iraq, even Albania – the list of the countries concerned is long.

Unfortunately it’s not possible to call a spade a spade, as to where bishops are prohibited by the police to welcome converts from Islam to Christianity in their churches, as that would be too dangerous. Often baptisms of converts resemble secret commando operations.

The BAMF’s wrong decisions

But that does not stop the federal agency involved (BAMF – Federal Office of Migration and Refugees) to refuse to grant a large number of converts from Islam to Christianity the right of asylum and to expel them quickly, and that while at the same time the deportation practices concerning perpetrators of violence are very sluggish and while asylum is granted to other countrymen for trivial reasons. A person lets himself be baptised at the risk of his life, everybody tries for security reasons not to make this public, the police warns against the risk, but the BAMF knows better: it was only for pretense.

It was a thousand times deplored and called for by the large churches that the BAMF should deploy neutral translators. But so far, when the BAMF examines whether a conversion is genuine or not, it often builds its decision on the insufficient translations of Muslim translators. This is absurd! The magazine pro recently called this practice “Humour which can cost lives” (in German), and the magazine instances the example, that an asylum seeker, according to the translator, was speaking of the soccer player Lothar Matthäus, when in fact he spoke of Martin Luther and the evangelist Matthew. This may sound funny, but it’s not at all funny, when asylum and therewith one’s life can depend on it. For the country they have to return to knows very well, what Luther and Matthew are all about.

Insufficiently verified translators

In their statement on assaults on Christians in refugee camps, the chairman of the German Bishop’s Conference and the EKD Council President have, among other things, called for a better screening of interpreters, who often, to the detriment of Christians and converts to Christianity, translated wrongly (see also my Commentary on this subject). Partly funny, partly hair raising and dangerous mistranslations are circulating in the media. Not a sound was heard on the part of the BAMF, only silence and hasty appeasement. Now it transpired that the BAMF 2017 and 2018 gave the boot to two thousand and one hundred (I repeat: two thousand and one hundred!) translators. The damage, which has possibly been caused by translators, especially for Christian asylum seekers, can presently not be figured. Now the “funny” instances potentially turn into deadly seriousness. At the same time it makes no difference, whether the interpreters mistranslate the Christian’s statements from a lack of knowledge, or because their own religious socialization has made them hostile against Christian statements, or out of the intention to harm Christians. How do the decision-makers of the BAMF answer the highly complicated and extremely sensitive question, whether a conversion to Christianity is feigned or not, while relying on bad or biased interpreters? It would be difficult to determine, even if perfect German was spoken on both sides. But the BAMF feels confident that its decisions are always careful and correct.

Questionable competence of decision-makers

Deplorable, besides the interpreters, is also the fact, that among the decision-makers there are in most cases completely “unmusical” people with regards to religion claiming the ability to assess the true faith of a person of another language, who, looked at from the outside, is baptised, well integrated in a church, who has a good report by his pastor and often lives his faith much more actively than most Christians in Germany, who nonetheless live under the protection of religious freedom.

In the course of this some older cases are also being re-opened, such as the recent one of a convert in Pforzheim (in German), who had lived there for several years and who suddenly was to be deported to Pakistan, where the Islamistic mob is very eager to kill apostates, whereby it is all the same to them, whether the person concerned has only gone to church for years to feign a conversion or whether he really means it – in each case he can’t be a Moslem any more, anyway. The pastor of his local church in Pforzheim, who had baptised him after extensive instruction, was so appalled, that he made the erroneous accusation, the church allowed herself to be deceived by a conversion-impostor, the topic of a Christmas sermon, but without changing anything thereby, of course.

This seems to be almost a global wave, though: Daily I receive horror stories from the U.S.A., the Scandinavian countries or from Austria of rejected asylum procedures of converts.

Of course, the BAMF may and must examine, whether the grounds of asylum are ostensible. But in the final analysis it is really irrelevant, whether an Iraqi or an Afghan has left Islam only in pretence or really. Once returned to Iran, he is classified as an apostate, who will either be arrested or, more often, will simply disappear.

 

4 Comments

  1. Sicher kann man sich über die “wahren“ Beweggründe eines “Fluchtwilligen “ immer wieder “die Köpfe heiß diskutieren“…..Und man mag solche Beweggründe auch in jeglicher Art und Weise versuchen zu interpretieren, letztendlich gibt es aber KEINE moralisch, ethisch oder politisch haltbaren Gründe, einem verfolgten Menschen das Asyl zuverweigern, sei es nun subsidiär oder anders begründet. Ich behaupte: KEIN Mensch KEINES Landes auf unserer Welt verlässt freiwillig oder aus “Spass“ seine Herkunfts – Heimat, um in einem fremden Land derart entwürdigende “Maßnahmen“ zu erdulden……wie es hierzulande in der Verifizierung seiner Glaub(ens) – Würdigkeit praktiziert wird.

  2. Marlis Reichert says:

    Auf Glaubensabfall steht nach Scharia-Recht die Todesstrafe.
    Wenn Muslime sich trotzdem taufen lassen, dann muss schon Echtheit und Überzeugung dahinterstehen!

  3. Detlev Burghardt says:

    Zum Übersetzer kann eigentlich nur ein staatlich geprüfter und vereidigter Spachmittler bestellt werden.
    Wenn ich mir überlege, daß auch bei der UNO schon falsch übersetzt worden ist, so kann man davon ausgehen, daß solche Fehlübersetzungen hier noch häufiger sind.
    Ich erlebte bei einer eigentlich ganz einfachen Übersetzung einer Kondolenzformel, daß GOOGLE “Hurensohn!” übersetzte – eigentlich hieß es etwa “Ruhe in Frieden!”

    Andererseits muß man aber auch wissen, daß es schon übliche Praxis ist, daß Menschen vorgaukeln, Christ geworden zu sein, sich taufen lassen, anschließend beim Imam das muslimische Glaubensbekenntnis beten – und sie sind nach muslimischen Recht wieder Muslime.

    Dies einzuschätzen ist sehr schwer! Nun ist Arabisch eine sehr blumige Sprache – ich habe es abgelehnt, amtlich zu übersetzen. Es gibt sehr viele regionale Unterschiede! Vergleichen Sie mal deutsches, österreichisches und schweizerisches Deutsch! Wie unterschiedlich war das Deutsch, was in der DDR und der BRD gesprochen wurde!

    Das Amt bräuchte hochqualifizierte Sptachmittler, nicht Jemanden, der gerade mal Arabisch sprechen kann!!

  4. Fritz Schuler says:

    Ich schäme mich ein Deutscher zu sein wenn ich sehe wie das BAMF Fehlentscheidungen trifft und Menschen darunter zu leiden haben. Die Art und Weise wie mit Flüchtlingen umgegangen wird ist ein Armutszeugnis für unsere Land.
    Ich unterstütze dass Flüchtlinge die unser Grundgesetz nicht rezeptieren oder Arbeit verweigern oder Sprachkurse nicht besuchen oder straffällig werden das Land verlassen müssen. Wenn Konvertiten sich entsprechend des Grundgesetzes verhalten sollen ihnen jegliche Hilfe zugestanden werden.
    Wir jammern wegen Facharbeiter Mangel und entziehen fleißigen Flüchtlingen die Arbeits-Genehmigung. Ich bin dabei Flüchtlingen zu helfen und empfinde eine große Unfähigkeit von den Behörden. Z.B wie soll ein Auszubildender Maler überleben von 580 Euro? Miete, Kleidung ,Essen, Fahrgeld, Wasser , Strom. Sprachkurs, etc. Als Pakistani bekommt er keine Ausbildungshilfe kein Wohngeld, keine Sozialhilfe. In der Ausbildung ist er besser als viele deutsche Lehrlinge. Und dann wird er vom BAMF abgelehnt und muss ein Rechtsanwalt nehmen und monatlich 50 Euro bezahlen. Das sind die Realitäten. Ich schäme mich ein Deutscher zu sein.

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