The is about a court ruling that has upheld the decision to bar Ms Shamima Begum from returning to the UK. Ms Begum left her home in east London in 2015 with two school friends t
o join the so-called Islamic State group in Syria. She went on to marry an ISIS fighter and had three children, all of whom died. Her British citizenship was stripped in 2019 on national security grounds, and this decision was later upheld by the Supreme Court after Ms Begum’s lawyers lodged an appeal with the Special Immigration Appeals Commission.
During a five-day hearing in November, Ms Begum’s lawyers argued that the then home secretary had failed to consider whether she was a child victim of trafficking when making the decision to deprive her of her citizenship. They alleged that she had been groomed by the terror group along with her friends at the age of 15 to join ISIS.
In its judgement, the commission concludes that there was credible suspicion that Ms Begum was trafficked to Syria for the purposes of sexual exploitation as a child. It also concluded that there were “arguable breaches of duty” by state bodies in allowing her to travel to the country.
However, Mr Justice Jay ruled that even if Ms Begum was trafficked, this did not override the legal power of the home secretary to make a national security decision to strip her of her
citizenship. The judge added that the commission was concerned by the security services’ “apparent downplaying of the significance of radicalisation and grooming, in stating that what happened to Ms Begum is not unusual.”
Ms Begum’s lawyers have said the fight is “nowhere near from over” and will challenge the ruling. Amnesty International and other rights groups repeated criticism of the use of “racist” citizenship-stripping powers and called on the UK government to assist in the safe return of its citizens stranded in Syria, including Ms Begum.
So why cannt't she go back?
Ms Shamima Begum left her home in east London in 2015 to join the so-called Islamic State group in Syria. She married an ISIS fighter and had three children, all of whom died. In 2019, her British citizenship was stripped on national security grounds, which was later upheld by the Supreme Court after an appeal. During a hearing in November, her lawyers argued that she was a child victim of trafficking and had been groomed by the terror group at the age of 15 to join ISIS.
The commission concluded that there was credible suspicion that Ms Begum was trafficked to Syria for the purposes of sexual exploitation as a child, and that there were “arguable breaches of duty” by state bodies in allowing her to travel to the country. However, Mr Justice Jay ruled that even if Ms Begum was trafficked, this did not override the legal power of the home secretary to make a national security decision to strip her of her citizenship.
As a result, Ms Begum remains barred from returning to the UK and is stuck in a prison camp in north-eastern Syria. Her lawyers have said they will challenge the ruling, while rights groups have criticized the use of “racist” citizenship-stripping powers and called on the UK government to assist in the safe return of its citizens stranded in Syria, including Ms Begum.
A piece of mine goes a long way.
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