Family of IS teen to fight UK decision

The family of a London teenager who joined the Islamic State group in Syria said yesterday it would challenge the British government’s decision to revoke her citizenship. Shamima Begum travelled to Syria in 2015 aged just 15 but has now fled the crumbling “caliphate” and says she wants to come home, after giving birth in a refugee camp last weekend. A letter to interior minister Sajid Javid written by Begum’s sister Renu on behalf of her family also called on the government to help bring her newborn son to Britain.

The fate of the 19-year-old has triggered fierce debate in Britain, with the government telling her family this week that it was revoking her citizenship. “We hope you understand our position in this respect and why we must, therefore, assist Shamima in challenging your decision to take away the one thing that is her only hope at rehabilitation, her British citizenship,” the family’s letter said. Renu Begum’s letter also asked Javid to help “in bringing my nephew home to us”.

It said Shamima Begum’s status would now be a matter for British courts to decide. International law prevents a government from rendering a person stateless, but Britain reportedly believes that Begum also has Bangladeshi citizenship due to her parents, although she was born in Britain. The Bangladeshi government said there was “no question” of her being allowed to enter, and there is legal argument about whether simply having Bangaldeshi parents bestows citizenship.

Begum’s baby was born before she was told of the decision to revoke her citizenship, and is therefore British and has a right to return. The teenager said she was “shocked” by Britain’s decision, saying “if you take that away from me, I don’t have anything. I don’t think they are allowed to do that.” She has mentioned the possibility of applying for citizenship in the Netherlands because her husband, an IS fighter believed to be held by Kurdish forces in Syria, is a Dutch national.