Shamima Begum loses appeal against removal of UK citizenship

LONDON (AA) – A UK court on Friday dismissed an appeal by Shamima Begum, a 24-year-old woman who lost her British citizenship for joining the Daesh/ISIS terrorist group in 2015.

Dubbed a "Daesh bride" for having left the UK to marry a member of the terror group, Begum lost the first stage of her court appeal in 2021 against a decision by the Home Office to strip her of British citizenship, which was revoked on national security grounds after she was found in a Syrian refugee camp in 2019.

Begum was 15 years old at the time of her departure. Her parents are of Bangladeshi heritage.

The Court of Appeal ruled that she was "lawfully" deprived of her citizenship by the Home Office.

Friday's decision came after a series of legal battles at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) in February last year and a case filed at the Court of Appeal in October.

The appeal court judge, Dame Sue Carr, said the judges agreed with the commission's decision on Begum's citizenship and ruled against her appeal.

"Ms Begum may well have been influenced and manipulated by others but still have made a calculated decision to travel to Syria and align with ISIL (Daesh)."