SYDNEY, March 21, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – In a precedent that could cause serious consequences, a group of 30 Iranian and Iraqi detainees in Australia who had their asylum claims rejected have won a review of their cases after some converted to Christianity.

A spokesman for Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone said Monday, March 21, the 30 boatpeople, most of them Muslims and some who have been in detention for more than three years, had won the review after some claimed to be converts about two weeks ago, reported Reuters.

The group had exhausted all assessment and appeals procedures but would be able to begin the process afresh for a “variety of circumstances” including conversion to Christianity and changed conditions in their home country, the spokesman said.

He could not say how many had converted to Christianity but added that, in some cases, new information had also arisen about the dangers of them being returned to their homelands.

Muslim organizations in Australia estimate the number of Muslims in Australia at 350,000.

“There's no denominational or religious-specific clause in the administration of our immigration policy," Howard said.

The move drew swift angry reactions from the opposition and Muslim minority leaders who warned against reviewing asylum claims based on religion.

They said Australia's international reputation could suffer and other detainees might convert merely to stay in the country.

“To see that Australia is actively encouraging Muslims to convert to another religion is something that we don't need to be stigmatized with,” Lebanese Muslim Association president Keysar Trad told reporters.

“Muslims generally aren't known for using their religion for worldly advantage, but there will be some weak in faith who will see it as a way of getting a visa,” he added.

Greens party senator Bob Brown, a staunch critic of the government's asylum seeker detention policy, said religion was only relevant if it was the reason detainees had been persecuted before arriving in Australia.

“The rule here is humanity, not the religious belief of some of those poor people who are facing export to countries where they face punishment,” he stressed.

“Let's not underestimate persecution that occurs in different countries but I think that if the government makes a decision on the basis of religion, as opposed to having a process of compassion and expediency, there is a real danger in causing people to go down that pathway,” leader of the Family First Party Peter Harris said on ABC radio.

But refugee advocate Marion Le downplayed fears of other Muslim detainees converting to Christianity to gain visas.

“There's never been an idea that by becoming a Christian you will be allowed to stay. They would know by converting they are doing a very serious thing and that other people who are Muslims in the detention centers could turn against them,” she said.

Prime Minister John Howard, for his part, argued that Australia, which has a tough policy of automatic detention of asylum seekers who arrive illegally, was not discriminating in favor of Christians, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“There's no denominational or religious-specific clause in the administration of our immigration policy,” he told ABC radio.

“Concerns about religious persecution can vary from one religion to another (and) are always factors in deciding how we deal with people,” Howard said.

“The idea that we would introduce something that is peculiar only to people who convert to Christianity -- that's not correct,” he argued.

The Sydney Morning Herald said that these people, who have had their applications to stay rejected, could not be returned to their home countries for various reasons.

One detainee, Peter Qasim from Kashmir, has been in detention for more than six years but India will not take him back.

According to reports, these people would not be granted permanent residency in Australia but their applications would be assessed while they were living in the community rather than behind bars.