A New Beacon of Hope: CFI Canada Partners with ARAP to Protect Persecuted Non-Believers
Expanding Our Assistance for Apostates Program Through International Collaboration
At the Centre for Inquiry Canada, we have always believed that human rights are universal—that the freedom to think, question, and disbelieve is as fundamental as any other liberty. This conviction drives our Assistance for Apostates (A4A) program, through which we support individuals fleeing persecution for their rejection of religious belief. Today, we are proud to announce an important expansion of this work: CFI Canada has become an official partner of the Atheist Refugee Assistance Program (ARAP), joining CFI Transnational, Atheist Alliance International, Ateizm Dernegi International, and the David P. Silverman Charitable Fund in supporting this vital initiative.
Turkey hosts the largest refugee population in the world, with millions having fled conflict and persecution in Syria, Afghanistan, Iran, and across the broader Middle East and North Africa region. Among these displaced people are secular humanists and non-believers—individuals who face a double burden. They have escaped their homelands, often under threat of imprisonment or death for apostasy or blasphemy, only to find themselves vulnerable once again within refugee communities where religious conformity is frequently expected and enforced. The challenges they face are immense: navigating a complex immigration system, often without legal support, while hiding their true beliefs from fellow refugees who might threaten them.
ARAP was established in 2020 by Ateizm Derneği, Turkey’s humanist NGO with approximately 500 members, to address this critical gap in refugee services. It remains the only organization in Turkey specifically dedicated to supporting non-believing asylum seekers. The program provides comprehensive assistance, including legal aid, accommodation through their safehouse facility, job placement support with CV translation and interview guidance, and official letters of verification for UNHCR and immigration authorities. Since its founding, ARAP has delivered 85 legal aid cases, provided 85 letters of support, responded to 116 guidance inquiries, arranged 27 accommodations, and helped place 27 refugees in employment.
In 2025 alone, ARAP delivered 57 services and accepted 16 new cases into its program after a very thorough vetting process. Perhaps most importantly, the organization achieved zero deportations—every accepted case remains protected. This remarkable record speaks to the dedication of ARAP’s team and the effectiveness of their case management approach.
A centrepiece of ARAP’s work is the LightHouse, their safehouse facility providing emergency shelter for non-believers facing immediate danger. Launched in March 2025 as a women’s shelter with support from the David P. Silverman Charitable Fund, the LightHouse sheltered five cases totaling eight individuals, including children, in its first year. In March 2026, the LightHouse will undergo a major expansion, relocating to a 330 square metre condominium in central Istanbul with capacity for 10 or more beds, allowing stays of up to 180 days or more. Starting in April 2026, the facility will be open to all genders, dramatically expanding its ability to serve those in need.
Another significant development in 2026 is the expansion of ARAP’s scope of services. Until now, the program has served exclusively non-Turkish atheist refugees who fled their home countries to seek asylum in Turkey. Beginning this year, ARAP will also provide support to qualified refugees who have had to flee from Turkey due to religious persecution—recognizing that for some non-believers, even Turkey has become too dangerous. This expansion represents a meaningful evolution in ARAP’s mission to protect all those persecuted for their non-belief, regardless of their country of origin.
This partnership emerged organically from our shared work. ARAP currently has multiple cases approved by both UNHCR and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for relocation to Canada. Meanwhile, CFI Canada’s A4A program has been supporting our own relocation case—a Pakistani asylum seeker known by the pseudonym “Omer,” who faced persecution for blasphemy in his home country and has spent years waiting in limbo while his Canadian sponsorship is processed. It was through this parallel work—ARAP guiding refugees through the Turkish immigration system while A4A supports their journey to Canada—that our paths crossed and this partnership took shape.
The collaboration aligns perfectly with CFI Canada’s mission to foster a secular society based on reason, science, freedom of inquiry, and humanist values. Since our founding in 2007, we have worked to provide a voice for those of minority worldviews, including atheists, agnostics, and secular humanists. Our A4A program was established precisely because we recognize that non-believers face unique challenges when seeking asylum—challenges often overlooked by traditional refugee assistance programs. In Canada, we have advocated for changes to refugee regulations that would extend the same protections to non-believers that religious refugees receive. Internationally, we work with partner organizations to support those in immediate danger.
We are confident in this partnership because of ARAP’s strong governance structure. In 2022, ARAP’s governance transferred to Ateizm Dernegi International Foundation in British Columbia, Canada, protecting staff, refugees, and safehouse operations from potential interference. The organization maintains rigorous accountability through twice-weekly team meetings, real-time task tracking via project management software, end-to-end encrypted communications, and annual reports inspected by a Board of Auditors. All staff and volunteers sign confidentiality agreements to protect the vulnerable individuals they serve.
As Canada’s only national secular education charity, CFI Canada is proud to support this essential work. But protecting those persecuted for their non-belief requires a community effort. We call on other like-minded organizations—humanist groups, freethought societies, secular NGOs, and human rights organizations—to consider joining this partnership. ARAP’s minimum partnership commitment is $3,000 USD annually, but contributions of any size make a difference. Partners receive access to weekly meetings, financial and performance reports on demand, logo placement on ARAP materials, and recognition in interviews, news coverage, and social media.
For those who have lost everything for thinking freely, ARAP offers a second chance at life. Through our partnership, CFI Canada is helping to ensure that the beacon of hope continues to shine. If your organization shares our commitment to protecting freedom of thought and conscience, we invite you to join us. Together, we can build a world where no one faces persecution simply for the courage to question.
For more information about partnering with ARAP, visit www.atheistrefugeesturkey.com or contact international@ateizmdernegi.org.tr. To support CFI Canada’s Assistance for Apostates program, visit centreforinquiry.ca or contact Onur Romano (CFIC Human Rights Chair).
How researchers can maintain the standards of good science in a world of misinformation: The People’s Case for Curators
Dear friend,
Concerns about information overload, disinformation, and misinformation get a lot of attention. Meanwhile, the very people in society who work to the standards of good science to uncover reliable information and share knowledge, and who protect the public’s access to it – such as librarians, editors, research professionals, and integrity officers, as well as specialist journalists – are overlooked and undermined.
Join us to discuss what good information curation looks like and the principles that underpin it.
Figuring out what is reliable in a world of agendas, fakes, and contradictions is hard – and getting harder. We want the principles of good information curation to be more visible, respected, and protected, so that society can continue to rely on them. Join us at 16:00 UTC on Wednesday, 18 February:
You’ll hear directly from “public-good curators” and learn what you can do to build a public voice for good curation. If you have any questions about the webinar, please email me.
Best wishes,
Katherine Brown
Programme Lead
Podcast for Inquiry celebrates four incredible years
Podcast for Inquiry continues to be my pride and passion, and I am delighted every day that I get to have probing conversations with fascinating people, brought to you every two weeks by the team at CFIC.
This year featured four hard-hitting episodes focused on Canadian politics, a diatribe from Leslie on AI, and a couple more about corporations and the concentration of markets into an ever-shrinking number of firms. But the bulk of the year was spent inquiring about science, philosophy, religion, and the environment. There are many challenging issues (and a few controversial ones) to explore in 2025’s Podcast for Inquiry’s archive.
Dive in and enjoy! We are all looking forward to bringing you more in-depth conversations on topics that cover the breadth of the human experience in 2026.
Please feel free to share your feedback about the Podcast for Inquiry at podcast@centreforinquiry.ca. Leslie reads every message.
Politics:
- Canada has not reconciled with its Indigenous peoples
- Trials and tribulations trying to bring a refugee to Canada
- Justin Ling on the right wing media ecosystem
- Andrew Coyne on the Crisis of Canadian Democracy
Science and Environment:
- Gaia Vince identifies the four horsemen of the Anthropocene
- Everything you always wanted to know about the solar system* (*but were afraid to ask)
- Jargon or gobbledygook? Dr. Jonathan Stea on evidence-based medicine over wellness misinformation
- A little less livestock, a lot more action – with Mark Lynas
- New clear nuclear news (Part I)
- Is nuclear energy low carbon, cost efficient, and sustainable? (Part II)
- Aaron Devor explains the ABCs of the Trans+ community
Philosophy and Religion:
- Burkas, beatings and bicycles – The life of Yasmine Mohammed
- Nigerian Nightmare: The personal toll of being a Humanist
- The Examined Run
- Modern Stoicism for modern life, with modern Stoic Donald Robertson
- Once Upon a Prime
- Can We Have a Conversation? Exploring Polarization to Find Common Ground
- Living life as a Humanist, with Steve Ghikadis
Business and Economy:
Leslie Rosenblood discusses Bill 21 with a secularist supporter
Few issues have split the Canadian secular community like Quebec’s Bill 21. Though CFIC spoke out against the legislation when it was enacted in 2019, other secular groups, especially in Quebec, vociferously support the law.
With the Supreme Court hearing the case March 23 – 27, 2026, the time is right for secularists who disagree about the merits of Bill 21 to have a principled discussion. (You can find a primer on Bill 21 with many links to previous Critical Links articles here.)
Join Leslie Rosenblood, Secular Chair of CFIC (and host of Podcast for Inquiry), and Michel Virard, co-founder of Association Humaniste du Quebec, on Sunday, January 18, at 11:00 am ET for a conversation about whether Bill 21 advances the cause of secularism in Canada, or if it is a regressive piece of legislation that violates the rights of Quebecers. (Podcast for Inquiry’s third and fourth episodes (released in February 2022) were dedicated to Bill 21; Catherine Francis believes it is a bad law, while Caroline Russell-King is staunchly in favour – and both argue from a secular perspective.)
Register for “2 Solitudes of Secularism” here, organized and hosted by The New Enlightenment Project.
Fight Chaos 2025
Last year, you stepped up when it mattered. Your donation helped CFIC make progress and we are truly grateful.
This year, we have missed your generosity. We understand that life gets busy and priorities shift. But we wanted to reach out, because supporters like you are a vital part of what makes our work possible.
With your support last year, we were able to:
- produce 26 episodes of Podcast for Inquiry (PFI) examining a huge array of topics of interest to critical thinkers, including a close look at nuclear power, Canadian Democracy, the Right Wing Media Ecosystem, and polarization, as well as interviews with well-known atheists, including Mubarak Bala and Jasmine Mohammed. In fact, PFI had something for almost anyone.
- bring you 12 Critical Links newsletters. Each newsletter helps you to know what is happening in humanist communities across Canada, sharing news stories of interest to humanists and providing members’ perspectives about critical thinking, science, and secularism.
- provide many online webinars, including Cybersecurity Awareness, Veganism, Animal Rights and Duck Hunting, and Energy, Poverty and Geopolitics. (You can find recordings of all online webinars on CFIC’s YouTube channel.)
In short, your donation helped us distribute a massive amount of free, reliable, and verifiable information at a time when this is most critical. And with your support, we will continue to do this in 2026.
If you are able, we invite you to make a gift today. No donation is too small, and every contribution directly supports the work you believe in. And, if you donate before midnight on December 31, your gift will receive a charitable tax receipt for this year.
If now is not the right time, please let us, once again, express our gratitude for past support. You remain an important part of CFIC and we are glad to have you along on this journey.
Thank you for considering a gift and for being a part of our community.
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You believe in secularism.
You believe that the government should make decisions based on facts and science, not on religious tenets.
SO DOES CFIC!
Help CFIC promote secularism for better outcomes for Canadians.
Please give generously to CFIC.
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We think that we live in a secular nation, yet our government continues to subsidize religious charities, to fully fund some religious-based schools and often, contrary to required legislation, to open meetings with prayer.
CFIC believes in the rights of individuals to belong to and follow the teaching of religious institutions, and we believe strongly that these religious institutions should “stay in their own lanes.” Religious beliefs should not guide legislation and must not be foisted upon those who do not believe in them.
Studies around the world have shown a strong positive correlation between secularism and almost every known indicator of societal health (Zuckerman). Yet, increasingly, we see rhetoric and legislation that is shrouded in the language of equality that favours pandering to all religions and ignores the more equitable tenets of secularism.
When it comes to religious involvement in matters of the state, CFIC is fighting back.
Your donation helps CFIC to do more.
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You know that democracy is about more than elections.
SO DOES CFIC!
The democratic process relies on public discourse.
Good democracy relies on good public discourse, informed by critical thinking.
Please give now to support Critical Thinking and improve the democratic process.
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A politician’s goal is to win elections. They do this by appealing to public sentiment and opinion. When misinformation and disinformation spread, politicians are elected by appealing to bad ideas, resulting in bad policy decisions.
Current rhetoric, which denies facts and appeals to magical beliefs or fantastical wishes, is leading to choices that will have long-term, negative consequences. We are seeing these choices globally and locally.
Even people who strive to think critically are assailed from all sides with information that is half true and difficult to verify. They fall prey to fake news articles, algorithms that shift their thinking and scams that are increasingly more misleading.
CFIC shares reliable information and provides tools that make it easier to fact-check information.
Please give so that CFIC can do more in 2026.
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You know that science makes lives better.
SO DOES CFIC!
Science holds the solutions to many of Earth’s problems, but bad science, conspiracy theories and self-serving disinformation are threatening science.
Help CFIC fight back against pseudoscience, magical thinking and quick fixes.
Please give generously to CFIC.
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Science has offered numerous solutions to the world’s most serious problems, but these solutions are not always straightforward. Too often, people reject scientific knowledge and instead choose solutions that don’t work, but are easy to implement or widely believed. Or, believe misinformation which has repeatedly been disproven.
We know that vaccinations are one of humanity’s most successful public health measures of all time. Yet, the anti-vaccine movement is undermining progress in health gains.
We know that Anthropogenic Global Warming is real and that nuclear energy provides a safe and reliable solution to fossil fuels. Yet, perpetuating misinformation about nuclear and overestimating the potential of renewable resources while ignoring the plight of energy poverty holds back meaningful progress.
We know that if alternative medicine is bogus, and that if it were real medicine, it would just be called “medicine.” Yet trendy, unproven mental health interventions, and so-called alternative medicine practitioners are ever more prevalent and, at best, useless and at worst, dangerous.
CFIC promotes science that improves lives and provides reliable information about pseudo-science and bad science that undermines progress.
Your donation will help us do even more in 2026. More Critical Links, more Podcasts, and more programming.
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You stand against religious extremism.
SO DOES CFIC!
Help CFIC fight for the rights of blasphemers, apostates, and secularists around the world.
Help CFIC to fight for the freedom to speak out against religious persecution.
Please give generously to CFIC.
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Human rights are being undermined in the name of religion. The rights of women, individuals who are LGBTQ+, belong to religious minorities, or do not believe in religion, are being violated. Sometimes, this is extreme and includes corporal punishment, imprisonment, disfigurement, or even death. Sometimes it is more insidious, with ever-increasing prohibitions on speaking out about certain topics, especially those related to religion.
CFIC is fighting back.
Your donation will help CFIC to do more in 2026. Please give generously.
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You stand against religious extremism, authoritarianism, science denial, and hate.
SO DOES CFIC!
Help CFIC promote critical thinking to calm the chaos.
On Giving Tuesday and throughout the year, please give generously to CFIC.
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Throughout the year, CFIC brings you news, seminars, and podcasts to help you understand your world and to renew your commitment to critical thinking, science, and secularism. For people dedicated to unravelling the myriad sources of miscommunication, misunderstanding, and misinformation, CFIC helps with comprehending the world and making better decisions.
CFIC works to give people who wish to be a part of the solution the tools to do so. We provide a platform to share information about real science, unpacking the news, and verifying the information that riddles us daily.
Today, and throughout the month of December, CFIC is asking for your help to do more of this and to do it more effectively. Please consider making a one-time donation that will help us to calm the chaos. Better yet, why not consider a monthly donation that will allow you to spread your donation throughout the year?
