ISIS bride denied return to Britain to challenge removal of her citizenship

LONDON • Shamima Begum, who as a schoolgirl left her London home to join the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group in Syria in 2015, lost a series of appeals before Britain's Supreme Court that could have allowed her to return home to fight the removal of her citizenship, an outcome that could affect other British citizens held in detention camps in Syria.

Begum, now 21, had hoped to return to Britain to appeal against a 2019 decision by the British government to strip her of her citizenship, which could render her stateless.

A lower court ruled last year that Begum could be granted a "fair and effective appeal" only by returning to Britain, but on Friday, the Supreme Court's five judges unanimously denied her request.

"The right to a fair hearing does not trump all other considerations, such as the safety of the public," said Supreme Court Judge Robert Reed. "If a vital public interest makes it impossible for a case to be fairly heard, then the courts cannot ordinarily hear it."

The ruling could have far-reaching implications for other Westerners associated with ISIS who have remained in detention camps in north-eastern Syria.

That includes about 15 other British women who have also been stripped of their citizenship. Some, like Begum, have pleaded with the authorities to repatriate them so that they could be prosecuted at home.

"Begum has never had a chance to make her case in court that she doesn't pose a danger to society," said Ms Sarah St Vincent, executive director of advocacy group Rights and Security International.

"Today's decision will prevent her from doing so indefinitely and is unfair."

Since the ISIS lost its final foothold in Iraq and Syria in March 2019, more than 60,000 family members of ISIS fighters have been detained in squalid camps, including 230 women from a dozen European countries and hundreds of children, according to Brussels-based think-tank Egmont Institute.

Many have been detained with little legal basis, and the withdrawal of citizenship has created further obstacles to repatriation for some.

Their lawyers and relatives, as well as right groups, have periodically pressed the authorities to bring them home, but most European governments have resisted such calls, wary of the backlash they could face from the public, the challenges they may encounter in prosecuting the women and the risks for public safety that returnees could pose.

Countries like France, Belgium and Britain have repatriated some children on a case-by-case basis, but dozens who remain in the camps have died from malnutrition, hypothermia or illnesses.

Begum was 15 in February 2015 when she boarded a flight to Turkey with two friends and entered Syria to join ISIS.

She married a Dutch fighter and had three children, all of whom have since died.

Begum once said she had no regrets about joining ISIS but later said she was willing to change if she could keep her citizenship.

Born and raised in Britain, she had a single nationality, but the British authorities have argued that she could claim Bangladeshi citizenship through her mother.

The Bangladeshi authorities have said they would not grant citizenship to Begum.

NYTIMES