Islamic State recruit Shamima Begum can return to UK to appeal citizenship removal, court rules
The Court of Appeal said Begum, who is currently detained in Syria, should be allowed to return to her home country to fight the UK’s decision to revoke her British citizenship.
Shamima Begum, who left London as a teen to join the Islamic State (IS) in Syria, should be allowed to return to her home country to challenge the UK’s decision to revoke her citizenship, a British court said Thursday.
The UK Home Office maintains that Begum, who lived under IS rule for several years, is a threat to national security and called the Court of Appeal judgment “disappointing.”
"We will now apply for permission to appeal this judgment," a Home Office spokesperson said in a statement. "The government’s top priority remains maintaining our national security and keeping the public safe."
Whether to repatriate and prosecute those like Begum who traveled to the region to join the terrorist group has proven to be a thorny issue for Western governments, many reluctant to get involved in what can be a politically unpopular subject at home. More than 2,000 suspected foreign fighters, along with their wives and children, remain in a sort of legal limbo under the custody of the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces in northeast Syria.
