MP angered by decision to block ISIS bride return
ONWURAH: THE HOME SECRETARY IS ON DUBIOUS LEGAL TURF
Political Editor NEWCASTLE MP Chi Onwurah has attacked the Government’s decision to strip ISIS bride Shamima Begum of British citizenship.
She criticised Home Secretary Sajid Javid after he ruled that Begum, now 19, should no longer be a British citizen after fleeing to Syria at the age of 15.
The move was designed to prevent her returning to the UK, after she said she wants to raise her new-born baby in the country.
Ms Onwurah challenged Mr Javid in the House of Commons, saying: “The actions and words of Shamima Begum are reprehensible and almost undoubtedly illegal, but we are not to know because the Secretary of State has rejected due process and the law that it is his duty to uphold, and has instead chosen to treat British citizenship as a privilege accorded to those with whom he agrees.
“He is also abandoning our responsibility to pursue and prevent terrorists made in Britain, and in the process ceding the moral high ground to President Trump.”
Some of Mr Javid’s critics have suggested his decision was designed to build support for a possible bid for the Conservative leadership once Theresa May stands down.
Ms Onwurah referred to his, asking him: “Do the Secretary of State’s actions do justice to Britain or to his political ambitions?”
Mr Javid insisted: “We must ensure that at all times we are fair, that we are acting morally and also lawfully.
“As I have said, such important decisions cannot be taken lightly. The facts must be weighed very carefully, and decision taken only when all alternatives have properly been taken into account.”
Begum, who gave birth to her third child at the weekend, left east London with two friends in 2015 to join terrorist group ISIS.
Her two older children have died and she is currently at a refugee camp in northern Syria.
Her Dutch husband, Yago Riedijk, aged 26, is a convert to Islam and travelled to Syria to join ISIS in 2014.
He is reported to have since surrendered to fighters allied to the Syrian Democratic Forces.
International law bans governments from removing citizenship from any person if it will leave them stateless, meaning they are a citizen of no country. The Home Office’s decision in Begum’s case is believed to be based on the belief that she is entitled to Bangladeshi citizenship, on the grounds that her mother is a Bangladeshi national. Ministers have not confirmed this. Bangladesh has stated that Begum is not a Bangladeshi citizen. The country’s foreign minister, Shahriar Alam, said: “She is a British citizen by birth and has never applied for dual nationality with Bangladesh.” However, the UK’s Immigration Act in 2014 says the test is whether a person is able to become a citizen of another country.