British Girl Loses UK citizenship After Joining ISIS At 15

A British girl Shamima Begum, who fled the country at the age of 15 to join ISIS, has lost her appeal against the government’s decision to remove her British citizenship.

The decision addresses whether Begum’s citizenship was improperly removed rather than whether she can go back to Britain.

After a five-day hearing in November, during which her attorneys claimed the UK Home Office had a duty to look into whether she was a victim of trafficking before stripping her of her citizenship, Judge Robert Jay issued the verdict on Wednesday, February 22.

Begum, who is now 23 and residing in a camp in northern Syria, traveled there in 2015 along with two classmates to join the ISIS terrorist organization. After begging with the UK government to grant her permission to travel back to her own country for the birth of her kid, she reappeared in February 2019 and gained notoriety as an “ISIS bride.”

On February 19, 2019, UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid revoked Begum’s British citizenship, and the following month, the infant boy of Begum passed away at a camp for Syrian refugees. She also claimed to have had two additional children, both of whom perished as infants in Syria.

Begum has appealed to the public on numerous occasions in her fight against the government’s decision, most notably in the BBC documentary The Shamima Begum Story and a 10-part BBC podcast series. She claimed that she is “not a horrible person” on the audio series. Begum acknowledged that the British public saw her as a “threat” and a “risk,” but she put the responsibility on the media on how she had been portrayed.

The Supreme Court overturned the judgment of the Court of Appeal to allow her in claiming that the Court of Appeal erred in four different ways when it decided that Begum should be permitted to return to the UK to pursue her appeal.

According to Begum’s attorneys, the court decision was a “missed opportunity to put into reverse a fundamental wrong and a continuing injustice.” The outcome is that there is now no protection for a British child trafficked out of the UK if the home secretary invokes national security,” Gareth Pierce and Daniel Furner, of Birnberg Pierce Solicitors, said in a statement.

“Begum remains in unlawful, arbitrary and indefinite detention without trial in a Syrian camp. Every possible avenue to challenge this decision will be urgently pursued,” it continued.

Rights group Amnesty International which has been pushing for the case described the ruling as a “very disappointing decision.”

“The power to banish a citizen like this simply shouldn’t exist in the modern world, not least when we’re talking about a person who was seriously exploited as a child,” Steve Valdez-Symonds, the group’s UK refugee and migrant rights director, said in a statement.

“Along with thousands of others, including large numbers of women and children, this young British woman is now trapped in a dangerous refugee camp in a war-torn country and left largely at the mercy of gangs and armed groups.” “The home secretary shouldn’t be in the business of exiling British citizens by stripping them of their citizenship,” Valdez-Symonds said.

Begum’s British citizenship was revoked by Javid, the home secretary, who tweeted that the decision “upheld my decision to take an individual’s citizenship on national security grounds.” “This is a complex case but home secretaries should have the power to prevent anyone entering our country who is assessed to pose a threat to it.” Javid added.

Send Us A Press Statement Advertise With Us Contact Us

 And For More Nigerian News Visit GWG.NG