IS teen Shamima ‘shocked’ after UK revokes citizenship
LONDON: A British teenager who joined the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria said on Wednesday she was shocked by a government decision to revoke her citizenship and was considering applying to settle in The Netherlands, the homeland of her husband. Shamima Begum, who travelled to Syria in 2015 and now wants to return to Britain after giving birth in a refugee camp in Syria last week, said the order was “unjust”.
“I am a bit shocked,” she told ITV News after learning of the move, which was announced in a letter on Tuesday from the British government to her mother in London. “It’s a bit upsetting and frustrating. I feel like it’s a bit unjust on me and my son.”
She said an “option” could be to apply for citizenship in The Netherlands, where her husband and the father of her newborn child - an IS fighter believed to be held by Kurdish forces in Syria - is from and has relatives.
“Maybe I can ask for citizenship in Holland,” Begum added. “If he gets sent back to prison in Holland, I can just wait for him while he is in prison.”
Begum’s fate has stirred controversy since she and two friends fled her east London home to join the terror network four years ago when she was aged 15.
The case highlights a dilemma facing many European countries, divided over whether to allow jihadists home to face prosecution or bar them over security concerns as the so-called “caliphate” crumbles.
Britain’s home office said it did not discuss individual cases when asked about Begum.
Interior minister Sajid Javid told lawmakers on 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.