Lawyer claims Begum was trafficked for sex
‘ISIS bride’ contests citizenship removal
ISLAMIC State bride Shamima Begum was a child sex-trafficking victim when she went to Syria aged 15, a court heard yesterday.
Ms Begum, now 23, and two other girls fled Britain to join ISIS in 2015.
Her citizenship was revoked on security grounds after she was found in a Syrian refugee camp in 2019.
Then-Home Secretary
Sajid Javid said she was a Bangladeshi-British dual national but soon after Bangladesh denied it.
Ms Begum is challenging the removal of her citizenship, saying the Home Office must investigate whether she was trafficked.
At the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, Samantha Knights KC, for
Ms Begum, said: “This case concerns a British child aged 15 who was persuaded, influenced and affected with her friends by a determined and effective ISIS propaganda machine.”
She said there was overwhelming evidence Ms Begum had been recruited and received in Syria for “sexual exploitation” and “marriage” to a man.
Lawyers argued the Home Office did not investigate whether she was trafficked. Ms Knights said it had failed to view her as a victim and assumed she had gone voluntarily. Ms Begum is also arguing she has been left “de facto stateless”. She was born in England and raised in Bethnal Green, East London. For the Home Office, Sir James Eadie KC said in written submissions that the security services still assess Ms Begum as a risk to national security.
He said Ms Begum only left ISIS-controlled territory for safety reasons and not due to a “genuine disengagement from the group”. He continued: “She expressed no remorse and said she did not regret joining ISIL, acknowledging that she was aware of the nature of the group when she travelled.” An MI5 officer, Witness E, told the court: “We consider whether someone is a threat and it is important to note we recognise victims can be threats if someone is a victim of trafficking.” He noted ISIS’s well-reported terrorist acts and beheadings around 2015, when Ms Begum joined, and said it was “inconceivable” she did not know what the terrorist group was like.
High predicted exam grades showed her to be intelligent, he said. The hearing, before Mr Justice Jay, ends on Friday, with a ruling at a later date.