Shamima Begum, who left UK for ISIS, loses citizenship appeal
Shamima Begum—who left the United Kingdom (UK) at 15 to join the Islamic State (ISIS)—has lost her appeal against the scrapping of her British citizenship. The 24-year-old's citizenship was revoked in February 2019 for national security reasons after she was discovered in a Syrian refugee camp. On Friday, her lawyers attempted to overturn the decision at the court of appeal after a failed attempt last year.
Begum fled UK to join Syria at age 15
Begum was born in the UK to parents of Bangladeshi heritage. In 2015, she and her two friends, fled their London homes to join the ISIS in Syria. Reports said, she was only 15 then. She married a Dutch national, Yago Reidijik. After the defeat of ISIS forces at Al-Baghouz in 2019, several women and children, including Begum, were picked up by Syrian Kurdish ground forces and detained in refugee camps. A Times journalist found her in the refugee camp.
Don't regret joining ISIS: Begum
After being found, she expressed her desire to return to her homeland. She, however, said that she did not regret her decision to join the terror group. As media and people back in England slandered Begum's lack of contrition, the then Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, used his powers to revoke her citizenship. He told MPs that those who traveled to Syria "supported a terrorist organization and in doing so they have shown they hate our country and values."
Judges unanimously dismiss Begum's appeal
Head of the Court of Appeal Dame Sue Carr announced that all three judges unanimously dismissed Begum's appeal. Carr explained, "Our only task is to assess whether the deprivation (of citizenship) decision was unlawful. We have concluded it was not and the appeal has been dismissed." Begum's legal team presented five grounds for their argument, but the judges ruled against her in each case, including deciding that a public sector equality duty did not apply in national security situations.
Home secretary's judgment upheld
The judges also concluded that former Home Secretary Sajid Javid had taken into account Begum's potential status as a victim of child trafficking, as her legal team had asserted. They determined that the evaluation of whether she represented a threat to UK national security fell within Javid's authority to decide. Furthermore, the judge ruled that Javid was not required to assess whether Begum would become effectively stateless due to the impracticality of her return to Bangladesh.
Verdict gets mixed reactions
Begum's solicitor, Daniel Furner, vowed to continue fighting. "We are not going to stop fighting until she does get justice and until she is safely back home," he said. Meanwhile, a Home Office official said, "Our priority remains maintaining the safety and security of the UK and we will robustly defend any decision made in doing so." The decision faced backlash from women's rights activists, who said that depriving citizenship was "a terrible policy designed to score cheap political points."
