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| Version 3 | Version 4 |
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| Shamima Begum: Isis Briton faces move to revoke citizenship | Shamima Begum: Isis Briton faces move to revoke citizenship |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| The family of a teenager who travelled to Syria to join Islamic State has been told the Home Office intends to revoke her British citizenship, according to their lawyer. | The family of a teenager who travelled to Syria to join Islamic State has been told the Home Office intends to revoke her British citizenship, according to their lawyer. |
| Shamima Begum, who left her home in Bethnal Green, east London, at the age of 15, is in a refugee camp in Syria, where she gave birth to a boy at the weekend. | Shamima Begum, who left her home in Bethnal Green, east London, at the age of 15, is in a refugee camp in Syria, where she gave birth to a boy at the weekend. |
| Begum, now 19, had called on the British people to have sympathy for her and asked to be allowed to return to the UK. The home secretary, Sajid Javid, responded by insisting that he would do all in his power to prevent her coming back. | Begum, now 19, had called on the British people to have sympathy for her and asked to be allowed to return to the UK. The home secretary, Sajid Javid, responded by insisting that he would do all in his power to prevent her coming back. |
| On Tuesday, Tasnime Akunjee, the family’s lawyer, said Begum’s relatives were “very disappointed with the Home Office’s intention to have an order made depriving Shamima of her citizenship”. He said they were “considering all legal avenues to challenge this decision”. | On Tuesday, Tasnime Akunjee, the family’s lawyer, said Begum’s relatives were “very disappointed with the Home Office’s intention to have an order made depriving Shamima of her citizenship”. He said they were “considering all legal avenues to challenge this decision”. |
| While the Home Office has not commented, the Guardian understands the home secretary believes section 40(2) of the British Nationality Act 1981 gives him the power to strip Begum of her UK citizenship. | |
| He has made an order and believes the fact Begum’s parents are of Bangladeshi heritage means she can apply for citizenship of that country, which she says she has never visited. | |
| This is crucial because, while the law bars him from making a person stateless, it allows him to remove citizenship if he can show Begum has behaved “in a manner which is seriously prejudicial to the vital interests of the United Kingdom” and he “has reasonable grounds for believing that the person is able, under the law of a country or territory outside the United Kingdom, to become a national of such a country or territory”. | |
| Begum has 28 days from when the order was made to appeal to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission against Javid’s interpretation of his powers. | |
| Legal sources claimed on Tuesday night the commission had thrown out previous attempts by the government in similar circumstances to strip citizenship and a fight in the courts looks likely. | |
| According to ITV News, Begum’s mother received a letter notifying her of the Home Office’s intention to strip her citizenship on Tuesday. “Please find enclosed papers that relate to a decision taken by the home secretary, to deprive your daughter, Shamima Begum, of her British citizenship,” the letter read, according to the programme. | According to ITV News, Begum’s mother received a letter notifying her of the Home Office’s intention to strip her citizenship on Tuesday. “Please find enclosed papers that relate to a decision taken by the home secretary, to deprive your daughter, Shamima Begum, of her British citizenship,” the letter read, according to the programme. |
| “In light of the circumstances of your daughter, the notice of the home secretary’s decision has been served of file today (19 February), and the order removing her British citizenship has subsequently been made.” | “In light of the circumstances of your daughter, the notice of the home secretary’s decision has been served of file today (19 February), and the order removing her British citizenship has subsequently been made.” |
| ITV News said the letter urged Begum’s family to make her aware of the decision, adding that she had a right to appeal. | ITV News said the letter urged Begum’s family to make her aware of the decision, adding that she had a right to appeal. |
| Begum left the UK along with two schoolfriends in 2015 and her case was thrust back into the spotlight last week, when she declared her wish to return for the sake of her newly born child. She made the plea in an interview with the Times, conducted in a Syrian refugee camp. | Begum left the UK along with two schoolfriends in 2015 and her case was thrust back into the spotlight last week, when she declared her wish to return for the sake of her newly born child. She made the plea in an interview with the Times, conducted in a Syrian refugee camp. |
| “I’m not the same silly little 15-year-old schoolgirl who ran away from Bethnal Green four years ago. And I don’t regret coming here,” the heavily pregnant Begum told the paper last Wednesday. | “I’m not the same silly little 15-year-old schoolgirl who ran away from Bethnal Green four years ago. And I don’t regret coming here,” the heavily pregnant Begum told the paper last Wednesday. |
| Sitting with her newborn baby during an interview the following Sunday, she said: “I feel a lot of people should have sympathy for me, for everything I’ve been through. You know, I didn’t know what I was getting into when I left. | Sitting with her newborn baby during an interview the following Sunday, she said: “I feel a lot of people should have sympathy for me, for everything I’ve been through. You know, I didn’t know what I was getting into when I left. |
| She told Sky News: “I was hoping that maybe for the sake of me and my child they let me come back. Because I can’t live in this camp forever. It’s not really possible.” | She told Sky News: “I was hoping that maybe for the sake of me and my child they let me come back. Because I can’t live in this camp forever. It’s not really possible.” |
| Javid has made clear his fierce opposition to her return, writing in the Sunday Times that “there will be consequences” for those who travelled to Syria to support groups such as Isis. | Javid has made clear his fierce opposition to her return, writing in the Sunday Times that “there will be consequences” for those who travelled to Syria to support groups such as Isis. |
| On Monday, he added: “Certainly, anyone that went to support terrorism in any way whatsoever, we are not going to risk the lives of any British officials – soldiers or anyone – to help them or rescue them.” | On Monday, he added: “Certainly, anyone that went to support terrorism in any way whatsoever, we are not going to risk the lives of any British officials – soldiers or anyone – to help them or rescue them.” |
| Responding to an urgent question in the Commons, Javid told MPs more than 900 people had travelled from the UK to Syria or Iraq. “Whatever role they took in the so-called caliphate, they all supported a terrorist organisation and in doing so they have shown they hate our country and the values we stand for.” | Responding to an urgent question in the Commons, Javid told MPs more than 900 people had travelled from the UK to Syria or Iraq. “Whatever role they took in the so-called caliphate, they all supported a terrorist organisation and in doing so they have shown they hate our country and the values we stand for.” |
| February 2015 | February 2015 |
| At the age of 15, Shamima Begum flees her home in Bethnal Green, east London. She travels with schoolfriends Amira Abase and Kadiza Sultana. The three intend to meet another friend, Sharmeena Begum – no relation of Shamima – who had travelled to Syria in late 2014. | At the age of 15, Shamima Begum flees her home in Bethnal Green, east London. She travels with schoolfriends Amira Abase and Kadiza Sultana. The three intend to meet another friend, Sharmeena Begum – no relation of Shamima – who had travelled to Syria in late 2014. |
| CCTV footage shows the girls walking through Gatwick airport, where they boarded a flight to Turkey. There they are picked up by smugglers and taken across the border to an Isis base in northern Syria. Once there they move into a women’s house in Raqqa and apply to marry. | CCTV footage shows the girls walking through Gatwick airport, where they boarded a flight to Turkey. There they are picked up by smugglers and taken across the border to an Isis base in northern Syria. Once there they move into a women’s house in Raqqa and apply to marry. |
| July 2015 | July 2015 |
| The families of the girls say that two of them have married Isis fighters, without disclosing which. They say they are distraught at the news. | The families of the girls say that two of them have married Isis fighters, without disclosing which. They say they are distraught at the news. |
| It later emerges that Begum had married 27-year-old Yago Riedijk, an Isis fighter from the Netherlands, 10 days after arriving in Raqqa. Soon afterwards she became pregnant with her first child, a daughter named Sarayah. | It later emerges that Begum had married 27-year-old Yago Riedijk, an Isis fighter from the Netherlands, 10 days after arriving in Raqqa. Soon afterwards she became pregnant with her first child, a daughter named Sarayah. |
| July 2016 | July 2016 |
| Abase marries an 18-year-old Australian jihadist, Abdullah Elmir. He was later reported by intelligence agencies to have been killed by a coalition airstrike. | Abase marries an 18-year-old Australian jihadist, Abdullah Elmir. He was later reported by intelligence agencies to have been killed by a coalition airstrike. |
| August 2016 | August 2016 |
| Sultana’s family say that they believe she had been killed in an airstrike in Raqqa in May 2016. | Sultana’s family say that they believe she had been killed in an airstrike in Raqqa in May 2016. |
| January 2017 | January 2017 |
| Begum and her family flee Raqqa as Isis retreats and head south-east to the town of Mayadin. She has another child, a son called Jerah. Later, the family moves again as Isis is pushed back. | Begum and her family flee Raqqa as Isis retreats and head south-east to the town of Mayadin. She has another child, a son called Jerah. Later, the family moves again as Isis is pushed back. |
| June 2018 | June 2018 |
| Begum sees her two surviving classmates, Sharmeena Begum and Abase, for the last time. | Begum sees her two surviving classmates, Sharmeena Begum and Abase, for the last time. |
| Late 2018 | Late 2018 |
| Jerah dies, aged eight months, of malnutrition and an unknown illness. Her daughter dies soon after, aged one year and nine months. | Jerah dies, aged eight months, of malnutrition and an unknown illness. Her daughter dies soon after, aged one year and nine months. |
| February 2019 | February 2019 |
| Begum, who is heavily pregnant, gives an interview to the Times, in which she says that she should be allowed to return to the UK to raise her unborn third child. She gives birth a few days later. The Home Office tells her family that her citizenship will be revoked. | Begum, who is heavily pregnant, gives an interview to the Times, in which she says that she should be allowed to return to the UK to raise her unborn third child. She gives birth a few days later. The Home Office tells her family that her citizenship will be revoked. |
| He added: “Now this so-called caliphate is crumbling, some of them want to return and I have been very clear: where I can, and where any threat remains, I will not hesitate to prevent this. | |
| “The powers available to me include banning non-British people from this country and stripping dangerous dual nationals of their British citizenship. Over 100 people have already been deprived in this way.” | |
| Javid can use temporary exclusion orders to bar the return of jihadists for up to two years. He acknowledged it was not within his power to render a person stateless, and said the UK “must, of course, observe international law”. Therefore, he said that Britons who do return to the UK “will be questioned, investigated and potentially prosecuted”. | Javid can use temporary exclusion orders to bar the return of jihadists for up to two years. He acknowledged it was not within his power to render a person stateless, and said the UK “must, of course, observe international law”. Therefore, he said that Britons who do return to the UK “will be questioned, investigated and potentially prosecuted”. |
| In the view of the family’s lawyer, however, the advice that Begum’s Bangladeshi heritage can be used to deprive her of UK citizenship is incorrect. “Our view is that this would be illegal because they would make her a stateless person, in breach of international law. We are surprised the home secretary does not understand international law, or care about international law,” Akunjee said. | |
| “If he were to attempt to put such orders on, we would explore all legal options to block his unlawful actions or appeal. If we can get an injunction, we will.” | “If he were to attempt to put such orders on, we would explore all legal options to block his unlawful actions or appeal. If we can get an injunction, we will.” |
| Begum’s relatives have called for her to be looked upon as a “girl who was groomed at the age of 15”. They said that comments she has made to journalists, characterised by some as betraying a lack of remorse, should be viewed with skepticism. | Begum’s relatives have called for her to be looked upon as a “girl who was groomed at the age of 15”. They said that comments she has made to journalists, characterised by some as betraying a lack of remorse, should be viewed with skepticism. |
| Taking Shamima Begum's citizenship risks making her a martyr | Robert Verkaik | Taking Shamima Begum's citizenship risks making her a martyr | Robert Verkaik |
| “We are also mindful that Shamima is currently in a camp surrounded by Isis sympathisers, and any comments by her could lead directly to danger to her and her child,” they told ITV News. | “We are also mindful that Shamima is currently in a camp surrounded by Isis sympathisers, and any comments by her could lead directly to danger to her and her child,” they told ITV News. |
| They said they welcomed an investigation into her time in Syria and called for her to be dealt with by the British justice system. On Tuesday, that call was echoed by the Liberal Democrats, whose home affairs spokesman, Ed Davey, said: “Membership of a terrorist group is a serious crime, as is encouraging or supporting terrorism. But Shamima Begum should face justice for those crimes in the UK. | They said they welcomed an investigation into her time in Syria and called for her to be dealt with by the British justice system. On Tuesday, that call was echoed by the Liberal Democrats, whose home affairs spokesman, Ed Davey, said: “Membership of a terrorist group is a serious crime, as is encouraging or supporting terrorism. But Shamima Begum should face justice for those crimes in the UK. |
| “It is not only hard to see Ms Begum and her baby as constituting a serious threat to national security, but it also seems a huge wasted opportunity. We can learn lessons as to why a young girl went to Syria in the first place; lessons which could improve Britain’s security by helping us prevent this happening again.” | “It is not only hard to see Ms Begum and her baby as constituting a serious threat to national security, but it also seems a huge wasted opportunity. We can learn lessons as to why a young girl went to Syria in the first place; lessons which could improve Britain’s security by helping us prevent this happening again.” |
| The Labour MP, Stella Creasy, said: “However horrific her defence of Isis, if the home secretary can start with stripping this woman and her week-old child of their citizenship for his leadership bid, where does it end?” Creasy added that she too would prefer to see Begum dealt with by the domestic justice system. | The Labour MP, Stella Creasy, said: “However horrific her defence of Isis, if the home secretary can start with stripping this woman and her week-old child of their citizenship for his leadership bid, where does it end?” Creasy added that she too would prefer to see Begum dealt with by the domestic justice system. |
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