2024-02-23T19:34:51+00:00
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/ A woman in Britain lost her attempt on Friday to regain her citizenship, which was revoked after she went to Syria to join ISIS in 2015.
The New York Times reported that “the Court of Appeal in London rejected an appeal filed by Shamima Begum, 24, after she was found in a camp where ISIS followers were being held in Syria in 2019.”
The newspaper reported that the girl known as the “ISIS bride”, who has been living in a refugee camp in Syria since 2019, cannot return to Britain and will remain stateless. But legal experts said that “her team may challenge Friday’s decision, and will seek to appeal to the UK’s Supreme Court.”
The woman’s case was the subject of intense debate in Britain after a reporter for The Times of London interviewed her in February 2019 in a Syrian refugee camp after the defeat of ISIS.
She said at the time that she wanted to return to her homeland, and shortly after, the government revoked her citizenship, citing national security risks.
Begum remained in the refugee camp for years, along with thousands of others linked to ISIS, including those with European citizenship who are refused repatriation by their countries.
Judge Sue Carr said the court stood by its previous ruling, saying it was “not for the court to determine whether stripping her of her citizenship was too harsh.”
Begum’s lawyers argue that “the government violated human rights laws by not considering whether she was a victim of trafficking before stripping her of her citizenship.
The Immigration Appeals Commission last year found the decision to strip her of her citizenship was fair, but the court also said that “on the basis of common sense” the Bangladeshi woman may have been trafficked by ISIS.
Bangladesh has rejected her application for citizenship. British law prohibits the revocation of citizenship from anyone who would otherwise be stateless.
The newspaper revealed that Shamima traveled to Syria with two friends, Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase, when they were 15 or 16 years old, in a story that the newspaper said highlighted how extremist groups exploit social media. Begum married a Dutch ISIS fighter while living in territory controlled by the organization, and they had three children, all of whom died.