London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Shamima Begum trafficked by IS to Syria for sexual exploitation, tribunal hears

Shamima Begum trafficked by IS to Syria for sexual exploitation, tribunal hears

Shamima Begum, who left the UK for Syria as a teenager to join the Islamic State group, was a victim of human trafficking for sexual exploitation purposes, a tribunal has been told.

Ms Begum travelled to Syria in 2015, with her citizenship stripped on national security grounds in 2019.

A five-day immigration hearing is considering an attempt to challenge the removal of her UK citizenship.

The Home Office insists she continues to pose a threat to national security.

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, told the court that a decision by then-Home Secretary Sajid Javid to remove her British citizenship was unlawful, as it did not consider whether she had been a child victim of trafficking.

She remains in a camp controlled by armed guards in northern Syria, nearly eight years after running away from home aged 15 alongside two other east London schoolgirls - Kadiza Sultana, 16, and 15-year-old Amira Abase.

Ms Sultana is believed to have been killed in a Russian air strike in Syria, according to her family's solicitor.

The whereabouts of Ms Abase are unknown, but Ms Begum previously said in a 2019 interview that she had heard she might still be alive.

In August, a BBC News investigation revealed Ms Begum was smuggled into Syria by an intelligence agent who was working for Canada at the time. The Canadian government has said that it will "follow up" on the allegations.

Once in Syria, she married a Dutch recruit and lived under IS rule for more than three years.

In 2019, she was found by the Times newspaper, nine months pregnant, in a Syrian refugee camp. Her baby later died of pneumonia and Ms Begum said she had previously lost two other children.

In an interview with the BBC's I'm Not a Monster podcast in September 2021, Ms Begum said she would regret joining the Islamic State group (referred to as IS, ISIS and ISIL) for the rest of her life and offered to help the UK fight terrorism.

Ms Begum previously said the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing, in which 22 people - some of them children - were killed in a bombing claimed by IS, was similar to military strikes on IS strongholds and called the terror attack "retaliation".


I'm Not a Monster podcast host Josh Baker on interviewing Shamima Begum


It has been almost eight years since Shamima Begum disappeared from east London with two school friends. They were heading to the Islamic State group in Syria.

For more than a year, I have been talking to her in a dusty detention camp in north-eastern Syria. It is where Shamima and other women and children who are associated with IS are held.

Throughout an exclusive series of interviews for the I'm Not a Monster podcast and a BBC Two documentary, Shamima claimed that she is a victim of trafficking and that before she left the UK, she was sent detailed instructions by IS members about how to make it there.

She has also said that she would have never made it to Syria without the help of an IS people smuggler, by the name of Mohammed Al Rasheed.

Ms Begum's lawyers argued at a tribunal on Monday that the evidence she was a child victim of trafficking is "overwhelming" and "depriving her of her British citizenship was a disproportionate means of addressing any alleged national security risk".

Samantha Knights KC said: "At its heart, this case concerns a British child aged 15 who was persuaded, influenced and affected with her friends by a determined and effective ISIS propaganda machine."

She added that "over-hasty steps" deprived her of her citizenship forever.

Lawyers for the Home Office argued the decision to deprive Ms Begum of her citizenship was correct, saying she fled from IS territory "for safety", not "disengagement from the group".

They told the court that, in "multiple press interviews" before Mr Javid made his decision, she expressed "no remorse and said she did not regret" joining a terrorist organisation - also arguing she had acknowledged she was "aware of the nature of the group when she travelled".

A formal assessment made by the UK security service MI5 says that people who travelled to IS-controlled territory "will have been radicalised and exposed to ISIL's extremism and violence", with the security service further assessing anyonereturning as a national security threat.

During the hearing, Ms Begum's lawyers pressed an MI5 officer, known as Witness E, whether the security service had considered if Ms Begum was a victim of trafficking when assessing her national security risk.

Witness E said MI5 are not experts in "the definition of" trafficking, but that victims can be threats too.

Witness E pointed out that Ms Begum must have been aware of the Islamic State group's atrocities, including beheadings of Western hostages, by the time she travelled.

The Home Office also said that information given to the police in November 2015 showed she had no desire to return home and still supported ISIL after her arrival in their territory.

The hearing, which is expected to last five days, continues.


Shamima Begum spoke of her regret at joining ISIS in 2021 (Credit: I'm Not A Monster: The Shamima Begum Story/BBC Sounds/5 Live/BBC Two)

Shamima Begum speaking to the I'm Not a Monster podcast, says she needed help from traffickers to reach Syria


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
Jellyfish Swarm Triggers Shutdown at Gravelines Nuclear Power Station in Northern France
×