Detainees who find Christ may be allowed to stay

Read it and weep. Baz le Tuff sent me this one:

"Thirty of Australia's longest-term immigration detainees are having their cases reviewed and could be freed because they have converted to Christianity since arriving.

"The Federal Government has made the move quietly as it searches for a face-saving way to soften its policy on failed asylum seekers who have been in custody for more than three years, and cannot be repatriated to their countries of origin.

"It follows strong lobbying efforts by several Government backbenchers, churches and the powerful Family First party for the Government to relax its refugee policy for Christian converts.

"It also follows the case of one convert, deported from Baxter detention centre last October within a week after the election, and promptly interrogated in Iran for 48 hours before being charged with leaving the country illegally.

"The case was taken up by Family First, whose spokeswoman, Andrea Mason, described the action as 'repugnant'. The Government is keen to build bridges with Family First, which controls one vital vote in the Senate, where the Government has a majority of a single vote."
Source: Sydney Morning Herald