A Facebook account with the name "Albanian Renaissance" on September 4th published a claim that German authorities have "tightened" procedures for asylum applications from people who have converted to Christianity.
in post It is alleged that foreign citizens have for decades used "church asylum" as a way to obtain residence permits in Germany, stating that they have converted to Christianity and that for this reason they are persecuted in their countries of origin.
Further on post It is claimed that in the past 90–100% of these requests were approved, while in recent years only 10–20%, as German authorities have reportedly discovered that the applicants were not actually converted. According to the post, in some areas of Germany these requests are rejected in over 90% of cases.
What is known about this issue?
These data and claims are not supported by official German statistics.
FACTS
The German Bundestag's Scientific Services have examined the issue of religious conversion in asylum procedures. In the document published in 2024, it is stated that the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) does not statistically record the specific reasons for persecution presented by applicants. For this reason, there are no official statistics showing how many asylum applications are made due to conversion to Christianity and how many of them are approved or rejected (see here).
Consequently, the figures claimed in the post "90–100% approval in the past, 10–20% in recent years and over 90% rejections in some areas," cannot be confirmed through official statistics.
However, there is some truth to this claim. German authorities and courts examine on an individual basis whether a conversion to Christianity is credible and whether it could expose the person to persecution in their country of origin.
The BAMF materials explain that in examining cases, the applicant's statements and the overall circumstances of the case are assessed. Conversion is not automatically considered sufficient for receiving international protection. At the same time, the BAMF emphasizes that even the lack of certain knowledge about the new religion is not necessarily evidence that the conversion is false (see here).
There are also documented cases of “Scheinkonversion”, i.e. alleged or false conversion, related to asylum procedures. In 2017, German police carried out an operation against a suspected asylum fraud ring. According to a report by the German newspaper WELT, authorities suspected that people were being offered a kind of “package” for securing asylum, which included a false conversion to Christianity (see here).
This case shows that false conversions have been documented as individual cases, but it does not prove that the majority of persons who declare conversion to Christianity in asylum procedures are falsely converted.
Furthermore, recent case law shows that conversion can be taken seriously as a basis for international protection. In November 2024, the Minden Administrative Court granted refugee status to a woman from Egypt who had converted from Islam to Christianity. According to a summary published by the BAMF in 2025, the court found the conversion credible and assessed that she risked persecution if returned to Egypt (see here).
"Church asylum" is not a residence permit
Even the use of the term "church asylum" (Kirchenasyl) in the post is incorrect.
Kirchenasyl is not a specific category of asylum nor a procedure through which churches grant people residence permits. Decisions on asylum and international protection are made by state authorities. The German Bundestag has clarified that Kirchenasyl is a practice whereby religious communities temporarily shelter people in certain situations (see here).
According to data published by the Bundestag, there were 2,254 people in Kirchenasyl in 2025. This figure does not indicate that these people had converted to Christianity nor that they had obtained a residence permit through Kirchenasyl (see here).
Why is this content being treated?
As of the writing of this article, the content published by the "Rilindja Shqiptare" Facebook account has accumulated 433 reactions, 169 comments, and 16 shares.
Based on the comments, it is noticeable that a large portion of readers have taken this claim as true (see here).
Analyze
It is true that German authorities examine individual claims of conversion to Christianity and that cases of false conversions linked to asylum procedures have been documented. However, there is no official data to prove that Germany has tightened the procedures in the way that is claimed in the content, while the figures presented are not supported by official statistics.
Furthermore, the existence of individual cases of “Scheinkonversion” does not prove that false conversions are a mass phenomenon or that German authorities have changed their policy for this reason.
Likewise, "church asylum" is not a mechanism for obtaining a residence permit in Germany, but a special practice of temporary shelter.
Based on its work methodology, hibrid.info assesses this content as "Disinformation".
rationale
"Disinformation" is defined as information content that contains a "mix" of inaccurate sources or even half-truthful attributes, and that is created and/or distributed with the deliberate intention of causing harm. The motive behind the producers/distributors of disinformation content lies in achieving a political, financial, psychological or social goal.