A 56-year-old Iranian woman who had sought asylum for almost two years from the Filadelfia church in Kristiansand was deported following a police raid on Saturday. Her deportation drew strong reactions from the pentecostal congregation.
“I believe the police, by going into the congregation’s premises and fetching out a person who was under church asylum, has overstepped the limit,” Filadelfia Kristiansand executive pastor Wiggo Skagestad told news bureau NTB.
The woman had applied for asylum in Norway several times, justifying her applications on the grounds that she had converted to Christianity. Her asylum claims were rejected each time.
The woman was being visited by her daughter and three grandchildren when the police arrived. She was transferred to an immigration detention centre on Sunday, before being deported to Iran on Monday.
newsinenglish.no staff
