Faith of asylum seekers

Should the faith of asylum seekers be relevant in considering their application for refugee status? I think not - people who are in danger of persecution in their home country should be granted asylum regardless of their faith. But what to do if they are in danger of persecution because of their faith? or would be in danger of persecution if they converted to different faith?

It seems that Australia is grappling with this question at the moment. Australia's policy on asylum seekers is (in many cases) brutally inhumane - some people have been detained for over three years following their unsuccessful applications for refugee status. I would not be surprised to see them grabbing at anything that increases their chances of release. But I am wary of conversion to Christianity (or any faith) being used as a means to an end - especially a political end - rather than being for its own sake. Of course, Christianity has political implications, including implications about how asylum seekers are treated. It is indeed a tangled, complex web...