Jihadi bride Begum ‘a security threat’
Former London schoolgirl seeking return to UK became used to violence in Syria, says Home Office
Shamima Begum, the London schoolgirl who fled to join Islamic State in Syria, remains a security risk as she has probably had weapons training and is “desensitised” to violence, the Government said yesterday. The jihadi bride, now 21, hopes to return to the UK to appeal against the decision to revoke her citizenship last year. The Home Office has mounted a challenge in the Supreme Court to block her return, arguing it would expose the public to “an increased risk of terrorism”.
SHAMIMA BEGUM, the London schoolgirl who fled to join Islamic State in Syria, remains a security risk to Britain as she probably received weapons training and is “desensitised” to violence, the Government said yesterday.
The jihadi bride, now 21, hopes to return to the UK to pursue a legal appeal against the decision by Sajid Javid, the former home secretary, to revoke her citizenship last year.
The Home Office mounted a challenge in the Supreme Court yesterday to block her return, arguing it would expose the public to “an increased risk of terrorism”.
Sir James Eadie QC, for the Government, told a remote hearing that Ms Begum was considered a “real and current threat to national security” – a view “not undermined a jot” by the young age at which she left for Syria.
MI5 was said to have advised Mr Javid in 2019 that Ms Begum was “aligned with IS” and the risks she posed would be best tackled by depriving her of her citizenship.
Details were also disclosed to the court of an earlier assessment by the Security Service regarding the potential danger Britain faced from returning IS supporters. Quoting from the document, Sir James said: “Individuals are likely to have obtained instructions and training in skills that will enable them to carry out terrorist attacks, including the use of firearms and other weapons.”
MI5 went on to warn that even noncombatants, including women, would “regularly carry weapons and will have received some level of military training”. Authorities feared returning IS supporters may go on to “radicalise others or impart knowledge of terrorist methodology” and could inspire sympathisers to travel to Syria, the court heard.
The Home Office yesterday sought to discredit the view that Ms Begum should be shown leniency because she was radicalised at a young age and claims to have renounced IS.
Sir James said there had been “no findings and indeed no allegations of trafficking or grooming” regarding her journey to Syria and she continued to live under the rule of the terrorist group “until the very end”.
He said the “radicalisation and desensitisation” to violence that Ms Begum experienced – illustrated by comments in an interview that the sight of severed heads “didn’t faze” her – meant she still presented a danger to the public.
“National security concerns are very real, very serious and not undermined a jot by the fact she went when she was very young,” he told the court. It would be “entirely wrong” to assume Ms Begum does not present any security risk or even less of a risk because some viewed her “as a victim”, he said.