Over the past few weeks the name Shamima Begum has been at the forefront of the headlines around the world. Shamima Begum is a 19-year-old British citizen who is seeking to return to the UK after fleeing the country over four years ago. Begum’s request to return home has resulted in a divisive debate across the UK on whether or not Begum and her infant child should be allowed to return to the UK.
When Shamima Begum was 15 years old when she left the UK to join ISIS. Begum was one of the three Bethanel Green school girls who fled the country to pledge their allegiance to the Islamic State (IS). Four years later, and now with her new-born baby, Begum is looking to return to her family and life in the UK.
Begum’s request to come home has created a nation-wide debate. Her return to the UK was denied after the Home Secretary made the decision to strip Begum of her British citizenship. Begum is currently residing in a refugee camp with her newborn baby, as her husband serves out his prison sentence.
As her British citizenship has been revoked, Begum is currently stateless and stranded in a refugee camp. Begum’s parents are from Bangladesh and it is speculated that Begum may be able to claim citizenship there. However, the Bangladesh Foreign Minister of State has denied this claim. As Begum’s son was born prior to the denial of her UK citizenship, there is also the question of whether the child will retain UK citizenship, as a child of a British parent at the time of birth.
Begum is not the first British citizen to want to return to the UK. In an article by the Independent, research by the Soufan Centre highlighted that over 400 hundred British ISIS members returned to the UK after pledging their allegiance to the terror organisation. There are a recorded 850 people who have left the UK to join ISIS in the past number of years. The UK intelligence agency MI5 currently has 20,000 people on the counter terrorism watch list.
At this moment, Shamima Begum is still residing in a refugee camp, with no country to return to, and a newborn baby to look after. The Begum case is an example of what some would call a greater human rights problem – citizenship does not guarantee human rights, and states are increasingly becoming willing to deny citizenship as a method of shedding responsibility for individuals involved in terror organizations.
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Image courtesy of Annie Spratt via Unsplash