SHAMIMA BEGUM, who left Britain to marry a Daesh (Islamic State group) jihadist fighter when she was a teenager began her appeal against the revocation of her citizenship in a UK court on Tuesday (24).
A lawyer for Shamima Begum, 24, told the Court of Appeal in London that the Home Office had failed to consider its legal duties owed to her client as a potential victim of trafficking.
"The appellant's trafficking was a mandatory, relevant consideration in determining whether it was conducive to the public good and proportionate to deprive her of citizenship, but it was not considered by the Home Office," Samantha Knights said in a written submission to the court.
"As a consequence, the deprivation decision was unlawful."
Begum was 15 when she left her east London home for Syria with two school friends in 2015.
While there, she married a Daesh fighter and had three children, none of whom survived.
In February 2019, Begum said she was left stateless when UK home secretary at the time, Sajid Javid, revoked her British citizenship on national security grounds after she was found in a Syrian refugee camp.
Renu, the eldest sister of Shamima Begum, holds a picture of her sister while being interviewed by the media in central London, on February 22, 2015. (Photo by LAURA LEAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
A UK tribunal ruled in 2020 that she was not stateless because she was "a citizen of Bangladesh by descent" when the decision was made, by virtue of her Bangladeshi mother.
Earlier this year, Begum lost a challenge against the decision at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).
The SIAC said that while there was a "credible suspicion that Begum was recruited, transferred and then harboured for the purpose of sexual exploitation", this did not prevent Javid from removing her citizenship.
The ruling meant that Begum could not return to the UK from her current home, a refugee camp in northern Syria.
Lawyers for the Home Office, who are scheduled to begin oral arguments on Wednesday (25), told the court that SIAC's conclusion was correct.
"The fact that someone is radicalised, and may have been manipulated, is not inconsistent with the assessment that they pose a national security risk," James Eadie said in written submissions for the department.
The hearing is set to conclude on Thursday (26), with a decision expected at a later date.
Begum is one of hundreds of Europeans whose fate has challenged governments following the 2019 collapse of the Islamist extremists' self-styled caliphate.
Knights told the five-day SIAC hearing last November that her client had been "influenced" along with her friends by a "determined and effective" Daesh "propaganda machine".
Around 900 people are estimated to have travelled from Britain to Syria and Iraq to join Daesh. Of those, around 150 are believed to have been stripped of their citizenship, according to government figures.
Davindra and Seema Misra, and Vijay and Gita Parekh
Varchas Patel with his father Vipin and mother Jayshriben
Hasmukh Shingadia and his wife Chandrika were all victims of the Horizon scandal
During the hearing, Clifford denied all the charges except for the rape charge, which was added to the indictment at the session. (Photo: Hertfordshire Police /Handout via REUTERS)
Man pleads not guilty to murder of BBC presenter's family
A 26-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering the wife and two daughters of BBC sports commentator John Hunt in a crossbow and knife attack.
Kyle Clifford, who also faces charges of rape, appeared via video link at Cambridge Crown Court on Thursday.
Clifford, arrested in July after a manhunt, is charged with three counts of murder, one count each of rape and false imprisonment, and two counts of possessing offensive weapons – a 10-inch knife and a crossbow.
During the hearing, Clifford denied all the charges except for the rape charge, which was added to the indictment at the session.
He is expected to enter a plea for that charge at a later date.
The victims were Carol Hunt, 61, wife of horseracing commentator John Hunt, and their daughters Louise, 25, and Hannah, 28.
An earlier hearing revealed that Louise had been found tied up and that both she and her sister had been shot with a crossbow, while their mother had been stabbed with a knife.
The fatal attack occurred at the family’s home in Bushey, a commuter town near Watford, northwest of London.
(With inputs from AFP)