British Teenager Who Joined ISIS Stripped of Citizenship

By Hugo Lagergren, Staff Writer

Shamima Begum, 23, lost her appeal against the British Government’s decision to strip her of her British citizenship. This judgment has reignited the debate surrounding the repatriation of foreign nationals who joined the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

On Feb. 22, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) ruled that the decision taken in 2019 by Sajid Javid, then Home Secretary, to strip Begum of her British citizenship was lawful. In a statement published by SIAC, the commission stated that despite “credible suspicion that she had been trafficked to Syria” for the sole purpose of being sexually exploited by ISIS militants, the decision remains at the discretion of the Home Secretary under United Kingdom law.

Begum left London with her two friends to join ISIS in 2015. She was only 15 and remained at the center of media attention since she was discovered in a Syrian refugee camp by

Times journalist Anthony Loyd in 2019. After making headlines as the “ISIS bride,” she implored with the British government to return. Yet , shortly after hearing her pleas, Javid made the decision to strip her of U.K. citizenship. Thus, Begum, who at the time was pregnant with her third child, was left to fend their citizenship. Under the British Nationality Act of 1981, the power of citizen deprivation comes under the purview of the Home Secretary. Since 2010, the U.K. stripped over 250 nationals of their British citizenship, placing them second in the world forcitizen deprivation, behind Bahrain. his nationality” asstatelessness can bar access to basic resources such as healthcare or education. for herself in Al-Hol camp in north-eastern Syria.

Downing Street has tried to argue that Begum is eligible for Pakistani citizenship. However, Pakistani officials have stated that she would not be accepted as a Pakistani citizen, with the Foreign Minister going as far as to suggest that she could face the death penalty should she arrive in Pakistan.

Furthermore, the Home Secretary’s apparent indifference toward the impact of online grooming and radicalization on young, disenchanted people has called many to reevaluate U.K.’s proclivity for citizenship strips.

The commission’s ruling prompted many to reevaluate the U.K. government’s ability to strip people of

Under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, all human beings are entitled to nationality. Article 15 states that “no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of

Under British law, children aged 10 and above are deemed responsible for their actions (excluding Scotland as of 2019); this is considerably lower than most European countries. In the last decade, politicians and activists alike have begun questioning the benefits of having such a low age of responsibility, with some believing the model, which was introduced by Labour in 1998, to be stagnant and outdated.

The decision, delivered by Sir Justice Jay, reveals a disconnect between the U.K. and its European neighbors in how to deal with the families of ISIS fighters who hold European citizenship. Where the U.K. has disowned its citizens, France, Germany, Denmark and Spain have repatriated families and brought them before the relevant judicial authority.

Begum, a self-proclaimed “Bethnal Green girl,” has been a polarizing figure in British society since her re-emergence in 2019. Since her first interview with Anthony Loyd, Begum has given numerous interviews in which she recounts her story. What has remained unclear from these media appearances is whether she feels remorse for her actions.

In an interview with Sky News, she said, “I think a lot of people should have sympathy towards me for everything I’ve been through,” which many people interpreted as teenage entitlement and impatience. In addition to this, in a series of interviews with the BBC, she seemed to be unaware of the magnitude of joining a terrorist group, which incurred the wrath of the public, especially from the Conservative camp.

Additionally, there is a very blatant attempt to “westernize” her appearance to appeal to the British public. This reinvention has caused many to question the sincerity of her regret or whether she is manipulating public opinion to be allowed to return to the U.K.

Despite the severity of her actions, many have argued that she should be repatriated on the basis that her crimes came as a result of online grooming and radicalization for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

Sir Justice Jay, who delivered the verdict on Begum’s appeal, expressed his concern regarding the Home Secretary’s “apparent downplaying of the significance of radicalization and grooming in stating that what happened to Ms Begum is not unusual.” He noted that “the idea that Ms Begum could have conceived and organized all of this herself is not plausible.”

Indeed, the story of how and why she joined ISIS is one of an impressionable girl of Bengali heritage living in a society that she said did not accept her. “I didn’t feel British or Bengali. I didn’t feel Bengali because I didn’t want to be Bengali, and I didn’t feel British because I feel like I wasn’t able to be British, even though I wanted to be.”

In 2014, Begum turned to Islam after her best friend, Sharmeena Begum (no relation), converted. She claims that she converted to feel accepted by her friend. “I didn’t want them to give them a reason, to like, exclude me from the group.”

In the same year, the Islamic State established their so-called “caliphate” after successfully capturing territory in northern Syria and Iraq. Their leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was proclaimed caliph and “leader for Muslims everywhere.” The establishment of an ‘Islamic State’ in which Islamic law reigns supreme has long been a goal of jihadists. Thousands of jihadis converged on the “caliphate” At the height of its power, ISIS militants numbered around 30,000.

Today, we have come to know ISIS through its ultra-violent propaganda videos. However, according to Shiraz Maher, Director of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalization, only around eight to nine percent of their propaganda output was the sensationalized gruesome images that the public is familiar with. Many of the videos produced by ISIS’ depicted vibrant scenes where families and individuals could live prosperous lives.

Sharmeena Begum was the first out of the group to travel to ISIS-controlled territory. Very shortly after, she managed to convince her three friends to join her in the supposed “Islamic Utopia.” Shiraz Maher makes the point that the barrier to radicalization immediately becomes much lower when someone you know is involved. Additionally, Shamima Begum admitted that there were others whom she was in contact with online who attempted to convince her to make the journey to Syria.

In February 2015, Begum and her two friends, Amira Abase and Kadiza Sultana, decided to embark on the treacherous journey to meet up with their friend ISIS territory. By 2019Begum’s two friends are presumed dead, and Sharmeena Begum is believed to be back with ISIS militants.

Very little is known about the four years that Shamima spent in Raqqa. Accusations have been made, notably including that she helped fabricate suicide belts for ISIS militants. However, she denied ever taking part in the terrorist group’s day-to-day operations.

Begum “does have some very big questions to answer,” says Andrew Loyd. Nonetheless, some serious allegation have been raised about the behavior of the U.K. government regarding its treatment of Begum and its pattern of nationality deprivation, with many citing skin color and religion as deciding factors.

Tim Farron, ex-leader of the Liberal Democrats, commented on the News Agents’ podcast, “I understand the anger at her, but that she has lost her passport — if she was white and she was called Sharon from Manchester, and she had done something like that, if wouldn’t even occur to the government to take the passport off someone who was obviously British.”