The UK-based family members of Shamima Begum have launched an appeals process against the UK government’s decision to revoke her British citizenship over her support for the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist network in Syria.
The 19-year-old, who recently lost her newborn baby in a Syrian refugee camp, had appealed to the UK Home Office to allow her to return with her child. Begum had fled to Syria from her east London home over four years ago to become a jihadi bride with ISIS until she was discovered heavily pregnant in a refugee camp. UK home secretary Sajid Javid had announced days later that her British citizenship would be revoked on security grounds because she was entitled to dual Bangladeshi citizenship by virtue of her family’s origins in the country, a decision which is now the subject of an appeal in the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).
“We are arguing the decision is wrong because it renders Shamima Begum stateless, it puts her life at risk, exposes her to inhumane and degrading treatment, and breaches her right to family life,” said Tasnime Akunjee, the Begum family lawyer.
The Bangladesh foreign ministry has categorically denied that Shamima Begum had any links or citizenship rights to the country.
Begum’s family is pursuing a second legal action in the UK High Court to challenge Javid’s decision to revoke the citizenship under such circumstances. The high court action seeks a judicial review accusing the UK minister of failing to take into account facts as he took key decisions.
The family’s legal team believes that the death of her third child, Jarrah, last month should also be taken into account. As the baby was born while Shamima Begum was still a British national, his status was that of a British national.
She fled to join ISIS as a schoolgirl in February 2015 and married Dutch ISIS recruit Yago Riedijk. Her 27-year-old husband, who is being held in a Kurdish detention centre in north-eastern Syria, had said in a media interview that he wanted his wife and baby to be allowed to return to the Netherlands.
However, both the Netherlands and Bangladesh have since denied that Shamima Begum would have a right to enter or live in either country.
Under international law, the UK can revoke a citizenship of a British national only if the individual would not be made stateless.
Begum is currently believed to be in a refugee camp closer to the Iraqi border after being removed from the Al-Hol camp in the north of Syria due to alleged threats following the worldwide media attention she attracted. She has not made direct contact with her family or lawyers since the move.