Religious Asylum Granted in U.S. for Indonesian Christian Convert from Islam
(Washington, DC) - The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), the US-based affiliate of the European Centre for Law and Justice, announced that an ACLJ legal team has successfully obtained asylum in the United States for a 22-year-old woman from Indonesia - a woman who left the Muslim faith and converted to Christianity. As a result, she faced grave danger - including the threat of death - if she returned to her home country.
The ACLJ's client came from a family where her Indonesian father is a devout Muslim, and her Chinese mother is Catholic. Her father imposed his strict Islamic faith through physical and emotional abuse. He would even beat his children - including our client - with belts, broom sticks, and other objects.
When she was enrolled in a Catholic school as a child, her father wanted nothing to do with her. In fact, her father said that if she chose the Catholic faith over Islam, he said he would kill her. At age 17, when she had to make an official declaration of her chosen religion on her government-issued identification card, her father forced her to sign the ID application that he had completed for her. As a result, her official Indonesian ID lists her as a "Muslim."
Through a series of events, the ACLJ's client converted to the Christian faith in 2008. After notifying her father of her decision, he expressed outrage and began lashing out against his daughter and his wife because of the conversion. Her mother was badly beaten and our client quickly became a target for abuse and found herself in life-threatening danger because of her Christian faith.
In Indonesia, Islamic groups call anyone who leaves the Islamic faith a "murtad" - an apostate. Because of her conversion, and the worsening climate in Indonesia with bombings, riots, and increasing violence, the ACLJ's client knew that as a "murtad" she would not be able to practice her Christian faith openly without the risk of being attacked or even murdered.
Then, she was able to attend college in the United States and for the first time in her life she could practice her Christian faith without shame - without fear. She was encouraged by friendships that she made with those in her church group in Washington State and a Campus Crusade for Christ chapter on college campus.
She also knew that returning to Indonesia could result in a death sentence. An ACLJ legal team went to work to ensure that she would remain in the United States - free from religious persecution.
Working with an office of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in Washington State on her behalf, the ACLJ presented evidence to the federal agency about the dangerous situation that Christian converts face in Indonesia. The ACLJ helped prepare her affidavit, oral testimony, and affidavits of witnesses (her pastor who baptized her in Indonesia, her pastor here in the U.S. and others).
The ACLJ was successful in explaining to the federal agency that the client faced grave danger - including the real possibility of death - if she returned to Indonesia. The USCIS granted the request for asylum ensuring that she would be able to remain in the U.S.
The ACLJ says this is an important victory for religious freedom and underscores the fact that religious persecution is a fact of daily life in many parts of the world. Christian converts who leave the Muslim faith are not only ostracized and treated as outcasts - they find themselves in real physical danger and often face life-threatening situations.
The ACLJ said: "We're extremely pleased with the outcome of this case and will continue to work with those who need protection for simply expressing or exercising their Christian faith."
The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) focuses on constitutional law and is based in Washington, D.C. The ACLJ works with its international affiliate, the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ), in defending religious freedom around the world.
