Begum’s son welcome in UK, says Javid, but without her

THE son of Shamima Begum could be returned to Britain, Sajid Javid has indicated, as he defended his decision to strip the boy’s mother of her citizenship.

The Home Secretary told MPS the boy, Jerah, would be entitled to British consular help to come to the UK if he could be taken out of northern Syria with the consent of his mother, who fled the UK four years ago to join Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil).

Mr Javid admitted it was “evident” the boy was a British citizen because he was born before his 19yearold mother’s citizenship was revoked, but could not be helped if he remained with her in northern Syria.

“If it is possible for a British child to be brought to a place where there is a British consular presence – the closest place might be Turkey – then in those circumstances it’s potentially possible to arrange some sort of help with the consent of the parent,” he said.

Ms Begum’s family wrote to the Home Secretary to appeal for his help to bring the boy, who is less than two weeks old, to the UK. Mr Javid said he had followed the letter of the law in re voking her citizenship, denying it was on the basis she might be entitled to Bangladeshi nationality – which would be illegal – but that she had Bangladeshi citizenship. He said he had never overridden the advice of Government lawyers on such cases.

“I have not deployed the power on the basis that someone could have citizenship to a second country,” he told the Commons home affairs committee:

“I’ve always applied it on the strict advice [of lawyers] that when the power is deployed with respect to that individual they already have more than one citizenship.”

Asked if he had a moral duty to take responsibility for dealing with a terrorist supporter born and bred in the UK rather than pass her on another country, he said he had a responsibility to keep the UK safe in preventing a returning jihadist radicalising others or perpetrating a terror attack.

In a wideranging question session by the committee, Mr Javid also offered EU citizens in the UK who failed to register for settlement status in time a chance to appeal. Although, he said, they would be “unlawfully resident” in the UK, adding: “We need to have a process for them to late register.”