London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Sep 03, 2025

Shamima Begum: Stripping of UK citizenship was unlawful, lawyers say

Shamima Begum: Stripping of UK citizenship was unlawful, lawyers say

The removal of Shamima Begum's UK citizenship in 2019 was unlawful, her lawyers have argued.
Ms Begum's citizenship was stripped after she travelled to Islamic State group-controlled Syria when she was 15.

In a hearing challenging the decision, her legal team said it ignored the fact that she may have been trafficked into Syria, adding she has been "banished".

The Home Office said Ms Begum was a risk to national security in 2019, and MI5 assesses she still poses a risk.

The case is being heard at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC), which has similar standing to the High Court, and can hear national security evidence in secret if necessary.

Lawyers for Ms Begum, now 23, has argued that - based on the government's own evidence - she was trafficked into Syria for sexual exploitation in 2015.

She was a minor who had been radicalised and had travelled to Islamic State-group controlled territory without telling her family, they said.

Ms Begum ran away from home at the age of 15, with two other east London schoolgirls - Kadiza Sultana, 16, and 15-year-old Amira Abase. Once there, she married a Dutch recruit and lived under IS rule for more than three years.

She was found by the Times newspaper in a Syrian refugee camp in 2019. Ms Sultana is believed to have been killed in a Russian air strike in Syria, according to her family's solicitor, and the whereabouts of Ms Abase are unknown.

In a statement, Ms Begum's mother Asma Begum told the hearing that her world "fell apart" when her youngest daughter went to Syria, adding that she still thinks about her "every hour of every day".

Many of her belongings are still where she left them, Ms Begum's mother said, including her school blazer "still hanging on the door in the front room just as it was when she left".

Marrying Ms Begum off to an adult in Syria was part of the IS agenda, and MI5 knew this, her lawyer Samantha Knights KC told the court.

Ms Begum left IS territory in 2019. Two weeks later, her UK citizenship was stripped by the then Home Secretary Sajid Javid.

Ms Knights called this decision "hugely draconian - effectively an exile for life", while her colleague Dan Squires KC described it as "permanent banishment" from the UK.

The lawyers said the government should have considered whether she had been trafficked into IS territory before deciding to take away her citizenship.

They also argued the Home Office had not properly considered the effect taking away Ms Begum's citizenship might have on the wider Muslim community and other minorities in the UK. Mr Squires said for some people British citizenship is somehow "conditional on their good behaviour".

The legal team also suggested that Mr Javid had "made up his mind" to take away the citizenship before seeing all the official documentation.

In a written opinion produced as part of Ms Begum's case, MI6's former director of counter-terrorism said the UK government's approach to Ms Begum had been "fundamentally misguided".

Richard Barrett and Paul Jordan, head of responding to violent extremism at the European Institute of Peace, said that from a national security perspective, refusing to repatriate people in camps in Syria "is likely to be significantly more dangerous" than repatriating them and subjecting them to prosecution, rehabilitation and reintegration.

Lawyers for the Home Office will make their legal submissions on Thursday - the fourth day of the five-day hearing.

But in written submissions the Home Office said: "MI5 assessed that the best way to mitigate the threat posed to national security by Ms Begum was to deprive her of her citizenship".

They went on to say: "For completeness and for the avoidance of doubt, the security service continue to assess that Ms Begum poses a risk to national security."

The decision to take away Ms Begum's citizenship was made soon after she re-emerged from territory controlled by the Islamic State group as its collapsed. MI5 assessed that she had only fled to save her unborn son, after her two other children had died, rather than because of a move away from IS ideology.

In their written arguments, the Home Office lawyers concluded that this was "not a case about trafficking", and that Mr Javid had considered Ms Begum's age and the circumstances of her travel to Syria when making his decision.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
Pickles are the latest craze among Generation Z in the United States.
Deadline Day Delivers Record £125m Isak Move and Donnarumma to City
Nestlé Removes CEO Laurent Freixe Following Undisclosed Relationship with Subordinate
Giuliani Seriously Injured in Accident – Trump to Award Him the Presidential Medal of Freedom
EU is getting aggressive: Four AfD Candidates Die Unexpectedly Ahead of North Rhine-Westphalia Local Elections
Lula and Putin Hold Strategic BRICS Discussions Ahead of Trump–Putin Summit
WhatsApp is rolling out a feature that looks a lot like Telegram.
Investigations Reveal Rise in ‘Sex-for-Rent’ Listings Across Canada Exploiting Vulnerable Tenants
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
×