Shamima Begum: Brit who joined ISIS as a teen loses UK citizenship appeal
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Hashim Sheikh
- . February 22, 2023
- . Update: February 22, 2023 10:45 pm
23-year-old Shamima Begum, who flew to Syria with two school friends to join the ISIS terror group at the age of 15, has lost her appeal against the decision to deprive her of British citizenship ‘despite a credible case she was trafficked for sexual exploitation’.
The ruling means Begum is prohibited from returning to the UK, consequently stuck in a camp in northern Syria.
Following a five-day hearing last November, Judge Robert Jay gave the decision on Wednesday. The ruling determines if the removal of her citizenship was lawful, and not if she can return to the UK.
Begum flew out of Gatwick Airport with two classmates in 2015. While in Syria, she got married to an ISIS fighter. She then reappeared in February 2019 in a Syrian refugee camp of 39,000 people, pleading with the UK government to return to her home country to give birth to her son.
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Speaking from the refugee camp before giving birth, Begum told British media she had already had two other children who died in infancy owing to malnutrition and illness.
UK’s then-Home Secretary Sajid Javid removed her British citizenship on February 19, 2019. Begum gave birth to her son in the camp in February of that year. But the infant’s health quickly deteriorated and he passed away the following month.
Although she challenged the decision, the British government in June 2019 refused her application for leave to enter her home country to carry out her appeal. The following year, the UK Court of Appeal – for the sake of “a fair and effective hearing” – ruled Begum should be allowed to return to the UK.
However, the Supreme Court reversed that decision in 2021, arguing the Court of Appeal had made errors.
The decision to deprive Begum of her citizenship has drawn intense criticism from human rights campaigners and legal experts alike who argue that the revocation compromised her right to a fair appeal.
