A woman who was stripped of her British citizenship after running away from London to marry an Islamic State fighter in Syria has now won the right to return to her former home to challenge the decision.
Shamima Begum, who is now 20, was one of three east London schoolgirls who traveled to Syria to join the terror group as a jihadi bride in 2015. Her British citizenship was revoked a year ago over national security concerns after she was found living in a Syrian refugee camp – but United Kingdom senior judges ruled Thursday that she should be allowed to return there in her ongoing fight to reclaim that status.
“Fairness and justice must, on the facts of this case, outweigh the national security concerns, so that the leave to enter appeals should be allowed,” Lord Justice Julian Flaux of the Court of Appeals was quoted by Sky News as saying, adding that “the national security concerns about her could be addressed and managed if she returns to the United Kingdom.”
This undated photo shows Shamima Begum, one of three east London schoolgirls who traveled to Syria in 2015 to join the Islamic State terrorist group. (AP)
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Her lawyer Daniel Furner hailed the ruling, saying his client – who wants to live in the U.K. again and has argued that being stateless is a risk to her health – is “not afraid of facing British justice.”
“Justice cannot be defeated, or indefinitely delayed, because a case is difficult or because national security is engaged,” he added, according to Sky News. “Fundamental rights are not extinguished because a person is abroad, or because the allegations against them are serious.”
But the U.K. government has decried Thursday’s ruling, with the Home Office stating it is considering an appeal as their “top priority remains maintaining our national security and keeping the public safe.”
Sajid Javid, the former Home Secretary who made the decision to remove Begum’s citizenship, also released a statement to Sky News questioning why her appeal couldn’t be handled over the Internet.
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“Allowing her — and indeed other terrorists — back into the U.K. to pursue an appeal would create a national security risk that cannot be fully mitigated, even with the diversion of significant resources,” he added.
Begum’s bid to reclaim her citizenship initially was struck down by an immigration court in February.
The Special Immigration Appeals Commission, which hears national security cases, said she could instead turn to Bangladesh for citizenship.
Yet her lawyer argued that Begum — who is of British-Bangladeshi heritage – was “not considered a national of Bangladesh and was therefore rendered stateless by the deprivation decision,” the Sky News reported.
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In an interview with the station, Begum said she married a Dutch ISIS fighter named Yago Riedijk three weeks after arriving at their self-described caliphate.
She added that she was “just a housewife” during her four years living among the terror group and has had three children while she has been in the Middle East, all of whom have since died.
Sky News reported last year that Begum wants to return to the U.K. to receive therapy in relation to those deaths.
She also told the London Times that the terror group “brainwashed” her into believing everything they said.
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“I have sat down and thought about how long I would have to stay here. And I have kind of accepted that I will have to stay here, I will have to make this like a second home,” she told the London Times.
“Since I left Baghouz [a previously ISIS-held territory in Syria] I really regretted everything I did, and I feel like I want to go back to the UK for a second chance to start my life over again. I was brainwashed.”
Fox News’ Robert Gearty contributed to this report.
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