Shamima Begum’s appeal to restore her UK citizenship begins this week, with lawyers arguing that she was a victim of sex trafficking.
You might remember in 2019, Begum had been interviewed by The Times‘ war correspondent Anthony Loyd after he found her at a refugee camp in Northern Syria. She said she did not regret joining ISIS, and was unfazed seeing the head of a decapitated man because he was “an enemy of Islam.”
Probably not the smartest thing to say if you ever dreamed of coming back to the UK, but she’s since changed her tune and offered to help the UK fight terrorism, claiming she will regret joining ISIS for the rest of her life.
Her most crucial argument though is that she was a child victim of sex trafficking, and so removing her UK citizenship was unlawful. Her lawyers told a court today that evidence for this is “overwhelming”, and that “depriving her of her British citizenship was a disproportionate means of addressing any alleged national security risk”.
It’s a tricky one really. Sure, Begum might’ve been a victim of human trafficking for sexual exploitation, but she was also an “enforcer” for ISIS’s morality police, a recruiter for the group, and committed heinous crimes herself. It’s no surprise the UK is reluctant to take her back, but at the end of the day, she was born here, raised here and radicalised here. Does that make her our problem to deal with?
I guess it would be good PR to bring her back and de-radicalise her, maybe help her become a productive citizen and used as an example to others. In the meantime, she’ll have to remain in Syria and daydream about it, at a camp protected by armed guards. The hearing, which is expected to last five days, continues.
For Danny Dyer’s take on the matter, click HERE. Who doesn’t want to know what he thinks?
[h/t BBC]
