Isis: Begum Loses her Battle for British Citizenship
Sudan Events – Sumaya Sayed
Shamima Begum lost, Friday a Court of Appeal challenge over the removal of her British citizenship after claiming she was a victim of trafficking – as her lawyers vowed to ‘keep fighting’ until she is ‘safely back home’.
Ms Begum travelled to Syria to join ISIS in 2015 aged 15 and her citizenship was revoked on national security grounds shortly after she was found in a Syrian refugee camp in February 2019.
Last year, the 24-year-old lost a challenge against the decision at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC), which said the removal of her citizenship was lawful.
“But it is not for this court to agree, or disagree with either point of view,” the ruling said.
“Our only task is to assess if the deprivation decision was unlawful. We have concluded it was not, and the appeal is dismissed.”
Reporting from outside the court in London, Al Jazeera’s Harry Fawcett said this is not necessarily the end of the road for Begum’s case.
“Her lawyers have a week now to consider this judgement. The chief justice said, if necessary, they can take more time to come back to the court,” he said, adding that lawyers can now take the case to the country’s highest court, the Supreme Court.
Begum, born and raised in east London, left her home in Bethnal Green to travel to Syria and join the group.
She was accompanied by two other schoolgirls, Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase, with Sultana believed killed in an explosion and the fate of Abase remaining unknown.
Begum’s lawyers had argued that she was trafficked to Syria and the fact that she was a minor when it happened must be considered, but were rejected by government lawyers who argued she did it with full knowledge.
