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Agence France-Presse

The family of a London teenager who joined Islamic State in Syria said Friday it would challenge the British government’s decision to revoke her citizenship.
Shamima Begum travelled to Syria in 2015 aged just 15 but has now fled the crumbling “caliphate” and says she wants to come home, after giving birth in a refugee camp last weekend.
A letter to interior minister Sajid Javid written by Begum’s sister Renu on behalf of her family also called on the government to help bring her newborn son to Britain.
The fate of the 19-year-old has triggered fierce debate in Britain, with the government telling her family this week that it was revoking her citizenship.
“We hope you understand our position in this respect and why we must, therefore, assist Shamima in challenging your decision to take away the one thing that is her only hope at rehabilitation, her British citizenship,” the family’s letter said.
Renu Begum’s letter also asked Javid to help “in bringing my nephew home to us”.
It said Shamima Begum’s status would now be a matter for British courts to decide.

International law prevents a government from rendering a person stateless, but Britain reportedly believes that Begum also has Bangladeshi citizenship due to her parents, although she was born in Britain.
The Bangladeshi government said there was “no question” of her being allowed to enter, and there is legal argument about whether simply having Bangladeshi parents bestows citizenship.
Begum’s baby was born before she was told of the decision to revoke her citizenship, and is therefore British and has a right to return.
The teenager said she was “shocked” by Britain’s decision, saying “if you take that away from me, I don’t have anything. I don’t think they are allowed to do that.”
She has mentioned the possibility of applying for citizenship in the Netherlands because her husband, an IS fighter believed to be held by Kurdish forces in Syria, is a Dutch national.

My priority is the safety and security of this country. These are not judgments to be taken based purely on empathy https://t.co/FC2AjhCETk
— Sajid Javid (@sajidjavid) February 17, 2019

Public sentiment hardened against Begum after she showed little remorse in initial interviews from the refugee camp.
Her family said on Friday they were “shocked and appalled” at the “vile comments” she made in the media.
“I have watched Shamima on our televisions open her mouth and set fire to our nation’s emotions,” said her sister’s letter.
“These are not representative of British values, and my family entirely reject the comments she has made, but … we as her family cannot simply abandon her.”
‘It’s unjust’: jihadi bride Shamima Begum who joined Islamic State as schoolgirl says she’s shocked by UK move to revoke citizenship
The family argued that it made “every fathomable effort” to prevent her from joining IS, which it called a “murderous and misogynistic cult”.
Begum and two school friends fled her East London home to join the terror network four years ago.
With IS crumbling, many European countries are now having to confront whether to bring back its citizens who travelled to join the group and prosecute them at home, or bar them from entry over security concerns.
Some 400 people who joined IS in the early stages of the Syria conflict have since returned to Britain and around 40 of them have been prosecuted.

There are believed to be around 10 British women who travelled to support IS who are now refugees in Syria.
Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said on Tuesday that Begum should be allowed to return.
“Taking somebody’s citizenship away is not the right thing to do. I think she should be brought back.”
Javid told lawmakers Wednesday that revoking citizenship was “a powerful tool” not used lightly.
“But when someone turns their back on (our) fundamental values and supports terror they don’t have an automatic right to return to the UK,” he said.
He has previously said that more than 100 individuals had already been deprived of their British citizenship.
Javid hinted that Begum’s newborn son – her third child, after her previous son and daughter died in recent months – could be treated differently.
“Children should not suffer, so if a parent does lose their British citizenship it does not affect the rights of their child,” he said.


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Islamic State

Returning to Britain is ‘her only hope’: Family of Islamic State teen Shamima Begum to fight UK decision to revoke her citizenship

Shamima Begum at Gatwick Airport, England, 17 February 2015. Photo: EPA-EFE

(FILES) In this file handout photo taken on February 17, 2015 a video grab taken from CCTV, received from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) on February 23, 2015, shows shows (L-R) British teenagers Amira Abase, Kadiza Sultana and Shamima Begum at Gatwick Airport, south of London. - A British teenager who fled to join the Islamic State group in Syria is living in a refugee camp and wants to return home, The Times reported on February 14, 2019. Shamima Begum, now 19, expressed no regrets about fleeing her London life four years ago but said that two of her children had died and, pregnant with her third, she wanted to return. (Photo by HO / METROPOLITAN POLICE / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / METROPOLITAN POLICE" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

FILE PHOTO: Renu Begum, sister of teenage British girl Shamima Begum, holds a photo of her sister as she makes an appeal for her to return home at Scotland Yard, in London, Britain February 22, 2015. REUTERS/Laura Lean/Pool/File Photo

Family of Islamic State ‘jihadi bride’ Shamima Begum prepares for legal battle as British government moves to strip teen of citizenship

Shamima Begum (left) in a photo held by her sister Renu Begum. Photo: Reuters

epa07369238 (FILE) - A handout photo made available by the London Metropolitan Police Service(MPS) on 20 February 2015 showing Shamima Begum one of three schoolgirls at Gatwick Airport, southern England, 17 February 2015 who have been reported missing and are believed to be making their way to Syria. Media reports on 14 February 2019 state that Shamima Begum, aged 19 who is in a refugee camp in Syria wants to return to Britain with her baby, her other two children both have died in the conflict. Shamima Begum said that one of her two school friends was killed in a bombing and the other's whereabouts is not known. EPA-EFE/LONDON METROPLITAN POLICE / HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES *** Local Caption *** 51809500

epa07369268 (FILE) - A handout photo made available by the London Metropolitan Police Service(MPS) on 20 February 2015 showing Shamima Begum one of three schoolgirls at Gatwick Airport, southern England, 17 February 2015 who have been reported missing and are believed to be making their way to Syria. Media reports on 14 February 2019 state that Shamima Begum, aged 19 who is in a refugee camp in Syria wants to return to Britain with her baby, her other two children both have died in the conflict. Shamima Begum said that one of her two school friends was killed in a bombing and the other's whereabouts is not known. EPA-EFE/LONDON METROPLITAN POLICE / HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES *** Local Caption *** 51809500

Shamima Begum, the British teen who joined Islamic State, gives birth to baby boy in Syrian refugee camp

Renu Begum, sister of teenage British girl Shamima Begum, holds a photo of her sister as she makes an appeal for her to return home. Photo: Reuters

This undated photo issued by the Metropolitan Police shows Shamima Begum. A pregnant British teenager who ran away from Britain to join Islamic State extremists in Syria four years ago has said she wants to come back to London, but her path home is not clear. Shamima Begum told The Times newspaper in a story published Thursday Feb. 14, 2019, that she wants to come back to London. (Metropolitan Police via AP)

(FILES) In this file handout photo taken on February 17, 2015 a video grab taken from CCTV, received from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) on February 23, 2015, shows Shamima Begum passing through security barriers at Gatwick Airport, south of London. - A British teenager who fled to join the Islamic State group in Syria is living in a refugee camp and wants to return home, The Times reported on February 14, 2019. Shamima Begum, now 19, expressed no regrets about fleeing her London life four years ago but said that two of her children had died and, pregnant with her third, she wanted to return. (Photo by HO / METROPOLITAN POLICE / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / METROPOLITAN POLICE" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

UK schoolgirl Shamima Begum ran away to join Islamic State in Syria as ‘jihadi bride’. Now pregnant, she wants to go back to Britain

(EDITORS NOTE: FACE IN PHOTO BEING HELD DELIBERATELY COVERED BY SISTER) Renu Begum, eldest sister of Shamima Begum, holds her sister's photo as she is interviewed by the media at New Scotland Yard in February 2015. (Laura Lean/WPA Pool/Getty Images/TNS)

A handout photo made available by the London Metropolitan Police shows Shamima Begum at Gatwick Airport on February 17, 2015, on her way to Syria. Photo: EPA

‘It’s unjust’: jihadi bride Shamima Begum who joined Islamic State as schoolgirl says she’s shocked by UK move to revoke citizenship

Shamima Begum is seen in a photo being held by her sister Renu Begum in 2015. The child in the photo is being deliberately obscured by Renu Begum. Photo: AFP

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Begum’s sister Renu writes letter to interior minister Sajid Javid saying that they will be challenging decision


Begum’s sister Renu writes letter to interior minister Sajid Javid saying that they will be challenging decision.


Islamic militancy

Britain

Syrian conflict

Returning to Britain is ‘her only hope’: Family of Islamic State teen Shamima Begum to fight UK decision to revoke her citizenship

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Begum’s sister Renu writes letter to interior minister Sajid Javid saying that they will be challenging decision

Begum’s sister Renu writes letter to interior minister Sajid Javid saying that they will be challenging decision