Rohingya, Afghan refugees converting to Christianity to apply for citizenship under CAA: Report

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A number of Afghan and Rohingya Muslim refugees have been converting to Christianity to become eligible for Indian citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), central agencies have alerted the government.

As a part of the ongoing assessment, 25 such cases have been flagged by them, according to a report by The Economic Times.

The Citizenship Amendment Act 2019, which was notified on January 10, grants Indian citizenship to non-Muslim minorities – Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian – who migrated to India from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh till December 31, 2014, following persecution over their faith.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), however, has not notified any rules for the Act as yet.

"Post CAA, there has been a spurt in the number of Afghan Muslims wanting to convert to Christianity," Adib Ahmed Maxwell, who heads an Afghan church in south Delhi told the newspaper.

According to Maxwell, most Afghans apply for asylum under the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Officials told the newspaper that CAA can be exploited by those who are either rejected for asylum by UNHCR or are refugee Muslims who came to India before the CAA cut-off date, which is December 31, 2014.

"An inquiry should be conducted into every application followed by an endorsement from the church for Afghans," Maxwell said while stating that the government should bring in a safeguard against those converting to Christianity from Islam.