Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Runaway IS bride faces arrest when she arrives back in UK
Fears jihadis will follow after ruling
RUNAWAY Islamic State bride Shamima Begum’s return to the UK could open the floodgates for dozens of dangerous British jihadis to follow, experts have warned.
Some are the “worst of the worst” fighters – including ISIS beheader-in-chief Jihadi John’s henchmen Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee e-sheikh.
Upon her return to Britain Begum is likely to be arrested and questioned before facing trial on terror-related charges.
Downing Street declared it is “bitterly disappointed” by yesterday’s Appeal Court ruling that she could return to the UK to fight her citizenship case.
Three senior judges said Begum – one of a trio of London schoolgirls who joined ISIS in 2015 – should be allowed to return to try to win back her British citizenship.
But security chiefs fear that monitoring those who return could cost millions of pounds over many years, amid suspicions they have been irreversibly radicalised.
FIGUREHEAD
A former British intelligence officer told the Mirror: “Monitoring Shamima Begum will take up so much of an already resourcelimited counter-terrorism service.
“She has never fully reversed her public enthusiasm for her belief in Islamic State and could remain a figurehead or an influencer for other jihadis.”
Jihadis such as Kotey, el-sheikh, “Jihadi Jack” Letts and Hamza Parvez – who are all being held in Syria – could return to the UK.
Begum is being detained in a refugee camp in Rojava, north-east Syria, in challenging conditions, having lost three children from her marriage to a Dutch terrorist.
But the intelligence source said: “Begum has no passport and will find it enormously difficult to cross into Iraq from Syria without Foreign Office-issued travel papers.
“The Foreign Office is unlikely to be willing to help her unless a court orders it to do so.”
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The Government’s priority is maintaining our national security, and decisions to deprive individuals of their citizenship are not taken lightly.
“We will always ensure the safety and security of the UK and will not allow anything to jeopardise this.”
Former adviser to the Government on terrorism Colonel Richard Kemp said: “The courts yet again have shown they put the human rights of a terrorist above those of their victims back in the UK.
“And for the judges to say that fairness to her is more important than the national security situation is a skewed judgment. What’s most important is national security and she could inspire others.”
Sajid Javid, the then-home Secretary who revoked Begum’s citizenship on national security grounds, said that he is “deeply concerned” by the judgment.
The Home Office said it will apply for permission to appeal against the “very disappointing decision” but campaigners welcomed it. Daniel Furner, Begum’s solicitor, said: “She has never had a fair opportunity to give her side of the story. She isn’t afraid of facing British justice, she welcomes it.
“But the stripping of her citizenship without a chance to clear her name is not justice, it is the opposite.”
Begum’s brother-in-law Mohammed Rahman said: “If that’s what she can do, that’s what she can do. I can’t see what other option she has. I can understand
her point of view. Equally, I see how people can say, ‘You’ve made your bed, now lie in it.’”
But her father Ahmed Ali told the BBC he is “delighted” by the ruling, adding that he hopes his daughter will get “justice”.
Begum has begged her family to send her pictures of all three of her children who died in Syria. Her husband Yago Riedijk is detained in another camp.
She lost all the pictures of her children after her phone was taken from her when she arrived at the refugee camp. Her lawyer, Tasnime Akunjee, said: “Her motivation to come back was for her child. Now she is just lost and wants to come home.”
Her third child, Jarrah, died shortly after he was born last year. She also lost a one-year-old girl and a three-month-old boy.
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokeswoman Christine Jardine said: “These are people brought up, often born here, with families and loved ones and the Government should stand up and be counted when they are radicalised.
“They should also be prosecuted in the UK for their crimes and interrogated so we can prevent more young Brits becoming terrorists.”
Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said: “It opens the door for all her fellow jihadi brides to return to Britain – and potentially their terrorist partners too.”
She left Britain with two other East London girls, Kadiza Sultana, who was reportedly killed, and Amira Abase. Mohammed Shafiq, of the Manchester-based
Ramadhan Foundation, said the ruling was the “right decision” but agreed with calls for Begum to be “held to account for any crimes committed”.
Maya Foa, of Reprieve, which wants all Britons held in camps in north-east Syria to return, said: “The Government must repatriate the tiny number of remaining British families, to face British justice wherever there are charges to answer.”
In the Court of Appeal ruling, senior judges said they would be “uneasy” in determining whether Begum, as a 15-yearold schoolgirl, left the UK of her own free will.
The Foreign Office is unlikely to be willing to help unless a court orders it to
INTELLIGENCE SOURCE ON CHALLENGES BEGUM FACES
SHAMIMA Begum left this country to join a terrorist cult that gloated at the slaughter of her fellow Britons.
It is easy to understand the anger at the court’s decision to allow her back to contest the stripping of her citizenship.
The fact she has shown no remorse adds to the outrage.
But, like it or not, Ms Begum is our responsibility. She was just 15 when she flew to Syria having been indoctrinated here.
However grim her actions she should be tried in a UK court.
That is how Britain can show it values fair justice – unlike the regime she championed.