by Geoff Robson
Christians and other non-Islamic asylum seekers continue to be the targets of religious violence in detention centres around Australia, despite the efforts of Christian leaders to seek government help in protecting detainees.
In one recent incident a Christian convert from Islam received death threats and was later bashed with billiard balls and cues. His injuries required treatment at a nearby medical centre.
Edmund Bagheri, pastor of the Sydney-based Persian Evangelical Church (PEC), has been corresponding regularly with Christians inside a number of detention centres. His contacts report that non-Muslims – particularly Christian converts from Islam – are the targets of ongoing violence and psychological persecution, and that other religions are not allowed to meet freely.
Mr Bagheri is hoping the Federal government will intervene to ensure safety and freedom of religion for all people. “You would expect that we would have the right to worship here in this country,” he said.
Mr Bagheri said he has received many letters of complaint from people inside the centres, and will forward them to Mr Ruddock’s office in the hope that he will reconsider the case. One letter, received in February this year, described an extensive campaign of systematic violence against one man at the Baxter Detention Centre, ten kilometres from Port Augusta in South Australia.
After the man converted from Islam to Christianity in 2001 through Mr Bagheri’s ministry, he began to share his testimony, leading to opposition from Muslims at the Centre.
With the man now confined to separate living quarters for his own safety, Mr Bagheri said the PEC is seeking to encourage him, while at the same time lobbying for him to be removed to a new detention centre.
A spokesman for Immigration minister Philip Ruddock said that ‘there have been various claims and counter-claims’ regarding conditions in detention centres, but emphasised that the government is taking the issues seriously. He said that when incidents are reported, the Immigration Department ensures counseling for those involved, “to make sure they are aware of the need for cultural and religious tolerance.”
“This is not a new issue. It’s an issue we’ve been dealing with for year and are continuing to deal with,” the spokesman said, adding that the laws that apply in the general community also apply to people acting violently in detention centres.
However Mr Bagheri said that despite numerous complains and requests being forwarded to the government, no response has yet been received. He believes the lack of acknowledgement ‘shows that they don’t care’.
“When somebody ignores you, that say they don’t care what you are saying. We haven’t received any reply,” he said.
John Clugston, a caseworker for Amnesty International and a member of Christ Church, Springwood, is also in regular contact with people inside the centres. He said that people are often forced to obtain permission before attending church services, and it is ‘quite arbitrary’ whether or not permission is given.
“There is a definite desire to restrict Christian or non-Muslim worship,” Mr Clugston said. “Christians must be able to have church services in accordance with normal customs and practices.
Mr Clugston said he has heard of cases where Christians have had Bibles and other Christian literature confiscated, or where wine for Communion is not allowed on site.
He also said the serving of only Halal meat (prepared according to Muslim requirements) was unfair on people who had previously fled persecution under Islam. “It is taken by many [Christians] as participating in an Islamic festival and therefore denying their own faith,” he said.
Mr Clugston said it was ‘totally inappropriate’ to have Christians and Mandaeans (followers of John the Baptist and the target of much persecution) in the same centres as Muslims, and likened the situation to post-WWII internment camps where Jews and Nazis were placed together.
Despite the danger, Mr Bagheri said Christians are continuing to seek ways of sharing the gospel with Muslims and other people within the detention centres. “We believe that God wants Afghanis to be missionaries to other Afghanis, and not to give up on because of the attacks,” he said. “We speak the same language and we have enough resources and enough mature Christian converts to reach out to this nation. We will continue – even if they attack us, even if they try to kill us. We believe it is important, and we want to break through this fanaticism.”
