Two Muslim brothers, who were converted to Christianity at Hillsong Church, have been denied protection visas by Australia.
Christian Today reports that Australia has denied the brothers’ application for the visas because they believe the brothers’ conversions are not genuine.
The brothers’ claims to be Christian were found to be “made up or embellished,” according to The Daily Telegraph, and found to suspiciously coincide with the date of their visa applications.
Both brothers have appealed the Refugee Review Tribunal’s decision. One brother’s appeal was denied, but the second brother is having a second hearing for his case because he argued that if forced to go back to Egypt, he would be persecuted and likely murdered for his conversion to Christianity.
The brothers reportedly were converted after attending a course called “Discovering Christianity” at Hillsong. They were also baptized into their new faith.
"I was always naturally curious and had so many questions about Islam but what kept that from showing is that I knew [those] who question Islam can be prosecuted and treated as a converter or kicked out of Islam, and the punishment of that is getting hanged to death,” one brother said.
The brothers initially came to Australia as students in 2010 and applied for the visas in 2013.
Both of their names and ages are being withheld.
Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons
Publication date: October 8, 2015