Syria trafficking victims ‘can still be security threat’
Court told Begum made trip ‘with eyes open’
LAWYERS opposing Shamima Begum’s citizenship appeal claimed that people trafficked to Syria and brainwashed will always pose a security threat.
London-born Ms Begum was 15 when she travelled to territory controlled by Islamic State.
Her citizenship was revoked after she was discovered in a refugee camp in 2019.
Lawyers challenging the decision argue she was trafficked to Syria to be sexually exploited.
But yesterday counsel for the Home Office told an appeals tribunal she went into the venture “with her eyes open”.
Sir James Eadie KC said it did not matter that she was only 15 when she went to Syria.
He added: “You could well have been radicalised and manipulated at an age when you are vulnerable.
“However unfortunate it might be, you are now a risk.
“You can still be a risk of setting off a bomb in London or Manchester even if you have been trafficked at a young age.”
He went on: “The assessment made by the Security Service was that Ms Begum’s travel was voluntary and demonstrated her determination to aligning with Isil.
“She travelled for the purpose of aligning with Isil and once in Syria she did in fact align with Isil.
“The assessment is that she did that with her eyes open.”
He referred to an interview in which Ms Begum said she was not “fazed” about seeing a head in a bin. He went on: “If you have been exposed for prolonged periods there is an almighty problem.
“Nobody disputes it is entirely possible for a person to be trafficked or manipulated or brainwashed or similar and yet be the most serious danger to the public.”
The 23-year-old’s lawyers argue she was recruited and transported to Syria for sexual exploitation and marriage.
Ms Begum, raised in Bethnal Green, East London, remains in a refugee camp.
Ten days after arriving in Syria she married a Dutchborn convert to Islam and went on to give birth to three children, all of whom died young. The youngest, born in a refugee camp in February 2019, succumbed to a lung infection within a month. The London hearing is due to finish today with the judge’s decision at a later date.
You could well have been radicalised at an age when you were vulnerable
SIR JAMES EADIE KC AT HEARING YESTERDAY