English court denies asylum to Malaysian who does not want child to be raised a Muslim
July 22, 2013
The second-highest court in England has upheld the government’s decision to deny asylum to a Malaysian Catholic woman who does not want her six-year-old son, also a baptized Catholic, to be raised as a Muslim.
The mother took her son to Great Britain and sought asylum amid concerns that her husband would soon convert to Islam. The husband has since become a Muslim.
In its ruling, the Court of Appeal acknowledged that the government’s decision to return mother and son to Malaysia would result in the boy’s circumcision and being raised a Muslim.
“C [the boy] himself is only 6 years of age and although he has been baptised a Christian and admitted into the Roman Catholic church, there is no reason to think that he has as yet formed any independent religious faith,” the court ruled. “He will be able to make his own decisions about religious matters when he grows up. Removing him with his mother to Malaysia where he can be brought up by both parents in the country of his nationality would not interfere with any of his own Convention rights and is clearly in his best interests.”
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Further information:
- British Appeals Court Upholds Asylum Denial; Returning Boy To Be Circumcised and Rasied As Muslim Does Not Violate His Rights (Religion Clause)
- Full text of decision
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Posted by: geoffreysmith1 -
Jul. 23, 2013 8:37 AM ET USA
“He will be able to make his own decisions about religious matters when he grows up." - Court No he won't. He will be circumcised immediately he returns to Malaysia, although he is only 6 years old. Yet one more instance of a British court waiving the rules when it comes to defending Catholics against persecution. This mother and son deserve to be protected from the Muslims, but the Freemasons on the court bench are throwing them to the wolves.
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Posted by: Defender -
Jul. 22, 2013 11:52 AM ET USA
Another wishful-thinking court. This also sets a precedence for other courts to rule that being baptized Catholic doesn't really mean anything until you become an adult (in this case, in a mostly Muslim country where Sharia law only applies to Muslims (this probably didn't matter to the court, though it should because it puts mother and child under Sharia law). This sounds like what has/will happen in the U.S. now, too.