Non-Religious Asylum Seekers Deserve Officials Who Understand Atheism | Column

Column. Non-religious asylum seekers are often asked to prove the wrong thing. They are asked to show belief, when their claim is about the loss of it. That absurd test is why a new toolkit matters.

On 2 October, Humanists UK published “Protecting the Non-Religious”. It guides Home Office decision-makers, lawyers and charities on claims based on non-religion and apostasy. Dr Lucy Potter of the University of York, the Faith to Faithless programme and the Migrants’ Rights Network helped shape it. A group of former asylum seekers advised throughout.

Why non-religious asylum seekers face a hard test

The toolkit names the problems clearly. Applicants are expected to show theological expertise about the faith they left. They are pressed to name one moment of conversion to atheism. Officials use labels that do not match how applicants see themselves. Limited paperwork is treated with suspicion.

I find this familiar. Doubt rarely arrives on a date. It builds through questions, silence and fear. An apostate from a hostile community often has no certificate to show. They have a story, and sometimes scars.

Donna Craine of Humanists UK says the toolkit helps officials move away from assumptions about how an apostate should look or sound. One advisory group member, Fatema, urges decision-makers to look beyond the claim and see the person behind it. That is sound advice for any caseworker.

The stakes are high. A wrongful refusal can send someone back to a country where leaving a religion can bring prison, violence or worse. Blasphemy and apostasy charges are not abstract. Our column on Sharif-Aminu’s six years in a Nigerian cell shows what they mean in practice.

A secular state should not need a holy book to recognise a conscience. It should ask whether the person faces a real risk and whether their account is credible. The toolkit offers a practical way to do that. The Home Office should adopt it, train staff on it and publish how it is used.

Fact basis: Humanists UK, 2 October 2026. This article is an opinion column.