ISIS bride Shamima lost legal battle to reclaim her British citizenship

Shamima Begum Wednesday lost an appeal against the decision to deprive her of her British citizenship and will not be allowed back to the UK.

The jihadi bride was 15 when she and two other east London schoolgirls travelled to Syria to join ISIS in February 2015.

Her British citizenship was revoked on national security grounds by then-home secretary Sajid Javid shortly after she was found, nine months pregnant, in a Syrian refugee camp in February 2019.

The 23-year-old has been locked in a legal battle with the Government ever since, recently challenging the Home Office at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) over the decision by claiming she was a child trafficking victim.

But the tribunal dismissed her challenge today, ruling that while there was a ‘credible suspicion’ that Ms Begum was trafficked to Syria for ‘sexual exploitation’ this was not enough for the appeal to succeed.

Mr Justice Jay added that whether she posed a threat to national security was a decision for politicians, not the courts. Ms Begum’s lawyers are expected to seek to challenge the judgment in the Court of Appeal.

Sajid Javid, who was home secretary when Shamima Begum was first stripped of her British citizenship, welcomed today’s decision

She travelled to Syria to join the Islamic State eight years ago at the age of 15 and remains there in a refugee camp.

Shamima Begum’s legal fight is “nowhere near over”, one of her lawyers says.

Speaking after the Special Immigration Appeals Commission’s ruling, Daniel Furner says the 23-year-old’s legal team are going to challenge the decision.

“We’re not going to go into details about exactly what that means at this stage,” he adds.

His colleague, Gareth Peirce, adds that “there’s no limit to the challenges” that can be undertaken.

The Home Office has said it is “pleased” the court has ruled against Shamima Begum.

In a statement, a spokeswoman said: “We are pleased that the court has found in favour of the government’s position in this case.”

She added that the government’s priority remains to maintain the “safety and security” of the UK.

“We will robustly defend any decision made in doing so,” she said.

As he read out the decision of the tribunal, Mr Justice Jay said “reasonable people will differ” over the circumstances of Shamima Begum’s case.

He explained the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) has “fully recognised” the conclusion that the 23-year-old travelled voluntarily to Syria as a teenager is “as stark as it is unsympathetic”.

He added that there is “some merit” in the argument that the Home Office sees the issue surrounding the IS bride’s citizenship as a “black and white case” , where “many would say there are shades of grey”.

“Reasonable people with knowledge of all the relevant evidence will differ, in particular in relation to the issue of the extent to which her travel to Syria was voluntary and the weight to be given to that factor in the context of all others,” he continued.

Mr Justice Jay also said people will have different views on the threat Begum posed to national security and how that should be balanced against other considerations.

“However, under our constitutional settlement these sensitive issues are for the secretary of state to evaluate and not for the commission,” he concluded.