Ex-ISIS member Shamima Begum can't return to UK, loses citizenship bid

Shamima Begum, who left London when she was 15 to join the terror group ISIS eight years ago, on Wednesday lost an appeal for citizenship. The ex-ISIS member had married a fighter of the group and had three children, who died as infants. The 23-year-old will also not be allowed to return to the United Kingdom. She is currently living in a refugee camp in Syria. The Special Immigration Appeals Commission's Justice Jay, who presided over the appeal, said that the UK citizenship is "not an absolute entitlement for everyone", reported British network Sky News.

She had challenged the decision by former British interior minister Sajid Javid of stripping her of citizenship in 2019. Reports also pointed out that Justice Jay on Wednesday ruled that Javid was not formally required to consider the claim about her trafficking to Syria when he took the decision. There was a “credible suspicion”, he further stressed, that she was a victim in this regard. The Secretary of State’s conclusion that she voluntarily travelled to Syria was “as stark as unsympathetic”, Justice Jay was quoted as saying by The Mirror.

In response to the dismissal of the appeal, a spokesperson of the UK Home office underlined: "We are pleased that the court has found in favour of the government's position in this case. We will robustly defend any decision made in doing so.” Javid also welcomed the decision by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission. “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," he said.

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In 2015, Shamima Begum left with school friends for Syria, where she married the hardline IS member and Dutch national Yago Riedijk. She was later found in a detention camp in Syria; and was stripped of her British citizenship on national security grounds.

In November, she challenged the decision as her lawyers argued that Britain’s interior ministry did not probe if she was a “child victim of trafficking”. Her lawyers also argued that then-Home Secretary Sajid Javid had “pre-determined” that Begum’s British citizenship should be revoked before getting any evidence.

On Wednesday, her lawyers said the "legal fight was far from over".

(With agency inputs)

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