Blasphemy and Apostasy in the UK Asylum System: Policy and Practice in Asylum Cases Submitted Under Grounds of Non-Religiosity

This thesis explores the lived experiences of non-religious asylum seekers and refugees in the United Kingdom (UK). While religious persecution is recognised in the Refugee Convention (1951) as grounds for asylum, apostates within the British asylum system face significant obstacles to obtaining protection, which remain under-explored in the existing academic literature. This thesis employs qualitative research methods, including semi-structured interviews and document analysis. It encompasses the experiences of individuals who have sought (or are seeking) asylum in the UK (n = 12) as well as the accounts of human rights advocates who assist these individuals (n = 22). Furthermore, an analysis of fundamental human rights laws regarding freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) and Home Office asylum policies has been conducted. The theoretical perspectives of lived non-religion, coloniality of power, and bureaucracy are utilised to conceptualise apostate asylum through three analytical trajectories. First, I explore the journeys of ‘becoming’ non-religious to elucidate the lived experience and banal forms of non-religiosity. I argue that apostasy can be understood through iterative ‘unlearning’ and ‘learning’ processes. As a result of these factors, participants faced fear of persecution and sought asylum in the UK. Second, the theme of ‘bureaucratising’ examines how asylum bureaucracy contributes to the (re)production of what it means to be a ‘credible’ apostate in need of protection. Third, the theme of ‘negotiating’ evaluates the effects of persistent colonial imaginaries on the representation of non-religiosity in the asylum assessment processes for apostates. The findings provide nuance to the field of migration studies by challenging scholarship that characterises refugees and their modes of belonging solely through the lens of religion. Additionally, it enhances understanding of apostasy and the identities formed as individuals leave religion. This research impacts not only the evaluation of non-religious claims, but also similar claims based on personal beliefs, including those concerning sexuality.