Shamima Begum, the teenager who left the UK to marry an Islamic State group fighter, has lost her bid to take her case to the UK’s top court. Begum, now 24, was stripped of her British citizenship after being found in a Syrian refugee camp. Despite her hopes to challenge the ruling, UK Supreme Court justices have deemed her proposed grounds for appeal as not arguable.
Having left her east London home at 15, Begum married an IS fighter and had three children who did not survive. She has been unable to return to Britain following the revocation of her citizenship in 2019 on national security grounds. Despite her legal team arguing that she was a potential victim of trafficking, the courts have ruled in favor of national security concerns.
While Begum may have been influenced by IS propaganda, the courts believe she made a calculated decision to travel to Syria. With around 900 people from Britain joining IS, approximately 150 have been stripped of their citizenship. In March, United Nations experts urged the UK government to repatriate Begum. Despite the setbacks, Begum’s case continues to spark debate and raise questions about national security and citizenship.