Norway: Christian Convert Attacked by Muslims at Asylum Reception Center

Michael Ireland | ASSIST News Service | Published: Aug 30, 2011

Norway: Christian Convert Attacked by Muslims at Asylum Reception Center

JAEREN, NORWAY (ANS) -- An ex-Muslim Convert to Christianity has been attacked with boiling water and acid by Muslims at an Asylum Reception Center in Norway.

www.Mohabatnews.com says that "Ali" (not his real name), an Asylum seeker in an immigration center in Jaeren, Norway, had boiling water poured over him after he converted to Christianity and would not comply with Ramadan fasting rules. He and the other converts at the center now fear for their lives.

Mohabat News says the incident was accompanied by the message from other asylum seekers: “If you do not return to Islam, we will kill you."

Ali refuses to disclose his real name for fear of further reprisals. This is also why he is pictured face down in the accompanying image.

The news agency reports that if Afghan authorities found out about the incident, and he were to be subsequently deported, Ali says he risks being sentenced to death by stoning.

Ali survived the incident, but has been left with a severely disfigured back, covered with flaking skin under bandages.

Ali’s Christian roommate, Reza, has been tending to the oozing wounds.

Nevertheless, Ali -- his face distorted in pain -- maintains a calm voice as he tells his story.

"Two of the Muslim residents asked why I had not fasted during Ramadan. When I would not answer, they began to discuss the matter. One of them said that he knew I was Muslim and converted to Christianity, and that they had to engage in Jihad," Ali told Mohabat News.

Ali stated that one resident held him down while another struck him on the back of the head with a pot of boiling water, and that he collapsed to the floor. Several other Muslim residents joined in the attack. A third man walked into Ali's room and began to trash it.

Police arrived an hour later, the damage already having been done, the agency said.

"I was still on the floor when police arrived. I told them a little, but was in too much pain to talk, so I was taken to hospital,” Ali said.

After a night in the hospital, Ali went back to the reception center, knowing that danger had not passed. When he checked the door handle to his room he found it was covered with an acidic substance that causes burns on contact.

He summoned the staff, who had washed away the chemical, but the Christian Afghan feel still does not feel safe.

“They're really killing me, and they will not rest until they have done it,” he said.

c. ASSIST News Service 2011. Used with permission.

Publication date: August 31, 2011

Norway: Christian Convert Attacked by Muslims at Asylum Reception Center