UK ‘cannot be sure’ Daesh recruit won’t be terror threat when she returns: Family lawyer

LONDON: The lawyer representing the family of a British-born woman who went to Syria as a schoolgirl to join Daesh said that “nobody can be sure” if she is still a threat to the UK.
In an interview with ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Friday, Tasnime Akunjee was asked if Shamima Begum could be a terror threat or potentially groom others into following in her extremist footsteps. The lawyer replied that “No one can be sure including her family that that won’t happen — but that is pure speculation.”
The comments follow Thursday’s ruling that Begum can return to Britain to challenge the government’s removal of her British citizenship, although she could be arrested on arrival in the country.
While Begum was stripped of her citizenship, her Bangladeshi heritage led the UK government to believe she would not be left stateless by the decision. However, her lawyers and civil rights group Liberty argued the decision was illegal under international law.
The government, MPs and victims of Daesh crimes expressed their fury after three judges from England’s Court of Appeal unanimously agreed Begum could have a fair and effective appeal of the citizenship withdrawal decision only if she were permitted to come back to Britain.
Tory MP Andrew Bridgen told the MailOnline, the website of British newspaper The Daily Mail, that the ruling risked setting a precedent for the return of many more extremists.
“It opens the door for all her fellow jihadi brides to return to Britain – and potentially their terrorist partners too,” he said.
“Most Brits will rightly think that when you swear allegiance to another country that declares war on Britain, that you have given up all the rights and protections and privileges of your British citizenship. After today’s ruling it appears you have not’.
The executive director of the counter-terror think-tank the Henry Jackson Society echoed the fear.
Dr. Alan Mendoza told the MailOnline: “The deeply troubling implication of this judgment is that up to 150 terrorists are now legally entitled to enter the UK in order to appeal the decision in their case.”
“This decision could have dramatic repercussions for our entire counter-terror strategy,” he added.
Begum angered many Britons by saying a suicide attack that killed 22 people in the English city of Manchester in 2017 was justified.
She had previously pleaded to be repatriated to London to be with her family and said she was no longer a threat.

UK ‘cannot be sure’ Daesh recruit won’t be terror threat when she returns: Family lawyer