February 07, 2020
Former schoolgirl who went to Syria to join Islamic State had citizenship revoked a year ago
Shamima Begum loses first stage of appeal against citizenship removal
Shamima Begum, the woman who left Britain as a schoolgirl to join Islamic State in Syria, has lost the initial stage of her appeal against the Home Office’s decision to revoke her UK citizenship.
A unanimous judgment by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) found against Begum, now 20, on three preliminary grounds, including that she had not been improperly deprived of her citizenship. The judgment prevents her from returning to London.
The ruling accepted that conditions in al-Roj camp, where she is being held in Syria, amount to, at least, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, but deemed that her human rights were not protected under UK law. Her lawyers announced they would appeal immediately.
Mrs Justice Elisabeth Laing, Mr Doron Blum and Mr Roger Golland concluded that the decision to strip Begum of her citizenship did not make her stateless because she was entitled to, or in effect held, Bangladeshi citizenship. She could, nonetheless, continue with her substantive appeal.
The Siac judgment said: “We accept that, in her current circumstances, [Begum] cannot play any meaningful part in her appeal and to that extent, the appeal will not be fair and effective.”
However, it went on, parliament intended that the home secretary “should be free to make a deprivation order immediately after giving notice of intention to deprive the person concerned her citizenship, whether or not the person concerned wishes to … appeal against the notice”.
The ruling said that when she was stripped of her UK citizenship, Begum “was a citizen of Bangladesh by descent, by virtue of [Bangladeshi nationality legislation]. She held that citizenship as of right. That citizenship was not in the gift of the [Bangladesh] government and could not be denied by the [Bangladesh] government in any circumstances.”
Mrs Justice Laing said Begum had no protection under the European convention on human rights – including the right to life or prevention of torture – because she was in Syria and therefore beyond its reach. The home secretary, she explained, was “only obliged to consider risks which are foreseeable and which are a direct consequence of the decision to deprive a person of his nationality”.
The judgment accepts that conditions in al-Roj camp in Syria “would breach [Begum’s] rights under article 3 [of the convention, which bans torture, inhuman or degrading treatment] if article 3 applied to her case”.
Begum’s lawyers alleged she had been left stateless and unable to mount a “fair and effective” legal challenge and was at risk of “death, inhuman or degrading treatment”. If forced to go to Bangladesh, her parents’ country of origin, she could be hanged, they told the tribunal at a partially secret hearing last October.
Begum was born in the UK and grew up in east London. The court heard there was no evidence she had ever visited Bangladesh or applied for citizenship there.
In February 2015, aged 15, Begum left her home with two other teenagers, Kadiza Sultana, then 16, and Amira Abase, then 15, and travelled to Syria to join Isis. She was found, nine months pregnant, in a Syrian refugee camp in February 2019. The then home secretary, Sajid Javid, stripped her of her British citizenship later that month.
Begum claims she married the Dutch Isis fighter Yago Riedijk 10 days after arriving in Isis territory, with her schoolfriends also reportedly marrying foreign fighters in the terrorist group.
The couple had three children, two of whom died of disease or malnutrition during the terrorist group’s last stand at Baghuz. The third died in al-Hawl camp.
The Home Office welcomed the Siac judgment, saying: “It would be inappropriate to comment further whilst legal proceedings are ongoing.”
Begum’s solicitor, Daniel Furner of Birnberg Peirce, said she would “immediately initiate an appeal [against] Siac’s decision … as a matter of exceptional urgency”.
Furner added: “The stark reality of her situation was brought before the court last year as a matter of exceptional urgency – how could she in any meaningful and fair way challenge the decision to deprive her of her nationality, a young woman in grave danger who had by then lost her three children?
“The judgment will be hard to explain to her. The logic of the decision will appear baffling, accepting as it does the key underlying factual assessments of extreme danger and extreme unfairness and yet declining to provide any legal remedy.
“Now, in February 2020, the dangers Ms Begum faces have increased; her chance of survival even more precariously balanced than before.”
Maya Foa, the director of the human rights group Reprieve, said: “The court today found that the detention conditions of British nationals in north-east Syria constitute torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. It is rank hypocrisy for the government to abandon British families to torture, which it professes to categorically oppose. The only just solution is for the government to repatriate British families, and to try people in British courts if they have charges to answer”.
Clare Collier, Liberty’s advocacy director, said: “The fact the government has left a young woman effectively stateless shows how little regard it holds for fundamental rights.
“Shamima Begum should not be banished – banishing people belongs in the dark ages, not 21st-century Britain. This case is just one example of how quickly ministers use citizenship-stripping when they could use other powers.
“It’s clear why they use these archaic banishments and that is to score political points and look tough on terrorism. It has nothing to do with making the public safe.
“In fact, this leaves us less safe as services are unable to conduct proper investigations that could help prevent young people, like Shamima, from entering terrorist circles in the future.”
Related Stories
Latest News
Top news around the world
Academy Awards

‘Oppenheimer’ Reigns at Oscars With Seven Wins, Including Best Picture and Director

Get the latest news about the 2024 Oscars, including nominations, winners, predictions and red carpet fashion at 96th Academy Awards

Around the World

Celebrity News

> Latest News in Media

Watch It
Ruby Franke’s Husband REVEALS Alleged Rules He Had to Follow at Home | E! News
March 28, 2024
_mU-3lE2QwI
#KenanThompson speaks out following the #QuietonSet documentary. (🎥: Tamron Hall Show) #shorts
March 28, 2024
8AGP-Gfw_Ek
King Charles Shares "Great Sadness" at Missing Royal Appearance | E! News
March 28, 2024
lyizFqf1kQY
Martha Reeves Walk of Fame Ceremony
March 27, 2024
QzyezumEPtQ
Eminem, 50 Cent & Snoop Dogg Present Dr. Dre with a Star on the Walk of Fame
March 19, 2024
4bNLs1hxVp8
Opening Remarks for the Variety Summit October 20th, 2023 Jay Penske
March 18, 2024
c6Z707iLq8E
Montell Jordan Dishes On Young MC Wedding, 'This Is How Date Night' Plans | TMZ
March 28, 2024
G3SMExj-qio
Davina Potratz Says TV Not Helping 'Selling Sunset' Relationship Woes | TMZ
March 28, 2024
D4piy4GNm4k
Logan Paul Rips Graham Bensinger Over Documentary, You Promised Apple TV+ | TMZ Live
March 28, 2024
NiSDpZhZklQ
Prince William pinned royal medal to Spice Girl Mel B’s boobs #shorts
March 28, 2024
O1cQ0UW9pco
Jennifer Garner shares ‘hard’ part of raising her and Ben Affleck’s kids
March 28, 2024
3Q7mZaVUdgc
50 Cent's ex Daphne Joy named as an alleged sex worker in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs lawsuit #shorts
March 28, 2024
yhLFI8DG9rM
TV Schedule
Late Night Show
Watch the latest shows of U.S. top comedians

Sports

Latest sport results, news, videos, interviews and comments
Latest Events
28
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
PSG W - Hacken W
28
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Barcelona W - SK Brann W
27
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Chelsea W - Ajax W
27
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Lyon W - SL Benfica W
17
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Atletico Madrid - Barcelona
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester United - Liverpool
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Inter Milan - Napoli
17
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Borussia Dortmund - Eintracht Frankfurt
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Chelsea - Leicester City
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Roma - Sassuolo
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Verona - AC Milan
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Juventus - Genoa
16
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Darmstadt - Bayern Munich
16
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester City - Newcastle United
16
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Fulham - Tottenham Hotspur
16
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Osasuna - Real Madrid
13
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Atletico Madrid - Inter Milan
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Barcelona - Napoli
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Arsenal - Porto
Find us on Instagram
at @feedimo to stay up to date with the latest.
Featured Video You Might Like
zWJ3MxW_HWA L1eLanNeZKg i1XRgbyUtOo -g9Qziqbif8 0vmRhiLHE2U JFCZUoa6MYE UfN5PCF5EUo 2PV55f3-UAg W3y9zuI_F64 -7qCxIccihU pQ9gcOoH9R8 g5MRDEXRk4k
Copyright © 2020 Feedimo. All Rights Reserved.