LONDON: Shamima Begum, the London-born woman who was stripped of her British citizenship after she joined Daesh, lost a second bid to challenge the decision at the Supreme Court on Monday.
Begum, 24, left the UK to travel to Syria along with two friends when she was aged 15 in 2015. The British government removed her citizenship in 2019, effectively leaving her stateless.
She married a Dutch Daesh member, and had three children, all of whom have since died, whilst with the group. She has been in northern Syria in Al-Roj prison camp for former Daesh members and their relatives since 2019.
Her legal team argued earlier this year that the stripping of her citizenship had been unlawful, and that she was a human trafficking victim.
They also said conditions in Al-Roj are “critical” with many people “near starvation,” adding: “It is not a refugee camp — those detained are unable to leave and the conditions have, with ever greater urgency, been categorized by every international body, as well as by the UK courts in Shamima’s case itself, as constituting torture and inhuman treatment.”
But the Court of Appeal denied Begum’s appeal to have her case heard by the Supreme Court.
Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr said at an earlier ruling in February: “It could be argued the decision in Ms. Begum’s case was harsh. It could also be argued that Ms. Begum is the author of her own misfortune.
“But it is not for this court to agree or disagree with either point of view. Our only task is to assess whether the deprivation decision was unlawful. We have concluded it was not, and the appeal is dismissed.”
Begum, who can still appeal directly to the Supreme Court to have her case heard, also failed with an appeal to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission in February, which ruled that regardless of the circumstances around her going to Syria, the home secretary retained the power to strip her of her citizenship.
Sir James Eadie KC, acting for the Home Office, argued the former Home Secretary Sajid Javid “was well aware of the possibility” Begum had been groomed or trafficked.
However, he added: “The only question which therefore remained was what weight to attribute to these factors. That was a matter for the secretary of state.”
Begum’s legal team insists she “still hasn’t received justice in a British court” and said it would not “stop fighting until she does get justice and until she is safely back home.”
