A woman stripped of British citizenship after joining ISIS in Syria has lost her legal battle to have that decision reversed.
Shamima Begum, 23, was 15 in 2015 when she left her home in east London with two school friends to travel to Syria. There, she married an ISIS fighter and had three children, none of whom survived.
Sajid Javid, who was home secretary at the time, revoked her British citizenship on national security grounds after she was found in a Syrian refugee camp in February 2019, a move that left her stateless.
The UK Supreme Court last year refused her permission to enter the UK to fight her citizenship case against the Home Office, so she took her case to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac).
In his judgment, released on Wednesday, Mr Justice Jay said that the tribunal found there was a “credible suspicion” Ms Begum had been trafficked to Syria for sexual exploitation, “to which, as a child, she could not give a valid consent”.
“In the commission’s opinion, there is a credible suspicion that Ms Begum was recruited, transferred and then harboured for the purpose of sexual exploitation,” he said.
However, the specialist tribunal ruled that a finding that Ms Begum had been trafficked did not prevent the home secretary at the time from removing her citizenship.
Mr Justice Jay said that the existence of this suspicion was insufficient for her to succeed in her arguments that the deprivation of her British citizenship failed to respect her human rights, adding that given she was now in Syria, the Home Secretary was not compelled to facilitate her return nor stopped from using “deprivation powers”.
“This Secretary of State maintains that national security is a weighty factor and that it would take a very strong countervailing case to outweigh it," he said in a 76-page public judgment.
“Reasonable people will profoundly disagree with the Secretary of State, but that raises wider societal and political questions, which it is not the role of this commission to address.”
During the hearing, Ms Begum’s lawyers previously argued that her school and the police both “missed opportunities” to prevent her travelling to Syria.
“The police, the school, the local authority, the Home Office and the Security Services have been blamed in various ways," Mr Justice Jay said.
“In our view, putting the matter at its very lowest, there is an arguable case of failing to take reasonable preventative measures directed against the police, the school and the local authority.
“The case against the Home Office is less clear cut; the case against the Security Services appears thin.”
Her lawyers said the ruling has left “no protection for a British child trafficked out of the UK” and have pledged to challenge the decision.
“We, the lawyers entrusted with the representation of Ms Begum in circumstances of extreme difficulty, register our profound disagreement with the decision taken by the home secretary in 2019 and the diminution by the Supreme Court of the ability of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission to consider her legal challenges," Gareth Pierce and Daniel Furner, from Birnberg Pierce Solicitors, said in a statement.
“The outcome is that there is now no protection for a British child trafficked out of the UK if the home secretary invokes national security.
“Regrettably, this is a lost opportunity to put into reverse a profound mistake and a continuing injustice.
“Ms Begum remains in unlawful, arbitrary and indefinite detention without trial in a Syrian camp. Every possible avenue to challenge this decision will be urgently pursued.
“In our view, that demands the Secretary of State must carefully review the original decision in light of the commission’s troubling findings.”
Ms Begum is one of hundreds of Europeans whose fate since the 2019 collapse of the Islamist extremists' self-styled caliphate has become a thorny issue for governments.
An estimated 900 people are thought to have travelled from Britain to Syria and Iraq to join ISIS. Of those, about 150 are believed to have been stripped of citizenship.
Wednesday’s decision was welcomed by the Home Office.
"We are pleased that the court has found in favour of the government’s position in this case," it said.
“The government’s priority remains maintaining the safety and security of the UK and we will robustly defend any decision made in doing so.”
Ms Begum's lawyers could now seek leave to apply to appeal against the Siac decision at London's High Court.
ICC Women's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier 2025, Thailand
UAE fixtures
May 9, v Malaysia
May 10, v Qatar
May 13, v Malaysia
May 15, v Qatar
May 18 and 19, semi-finals
May 20, final
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Liverpool 4 (Salah (pen 4, 33', & pen 88', Van Dijk (20')
Leeds United 3 (Harrison 12', Bamford 30', Klich 66')
Man of the match Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Frankenstein in Baghdad
Ahmed Saadawi
Penguin Press
Chef Nobu's advice for eating sushi
“One mistake people always make is adding extra wasabi. There is no need for this, because it should already be there between the rice and the fish.
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“Chopsticks are acceptable, but really, I recommend using your fingers for sushi. Do use chopsticks for sashimi, though.
“The ginger should be eaten separately as a palette cleanser and used to clear the mouth when switching between different pieces of fish.”
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
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6.30pm: Handicap (TB) $68,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
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8.50pm: Zabeel Mile – Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,600m
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10pm: Al Shindagha Sprint – Group 3 (TB) $130,000 (D) 1,200m
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
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The Intruder
Director: Deon Taylor
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Michael Ealy, Meagan Good
One star
The biog
Family: Parents and four sisters
Education: Bachelor’s degree in business management and marketing at American University of Sharjah
A self-confessed foodie, she enjoys trying out new cuisines, her current favourite is the poke superfood bowls
Likes reading: autobiographies and fiction
Favourite holiday destination: Italy
Posts information about challenges, events, runs in other emirates on the group's Instagram account @Anagowrunning
Has created a database of Emirati and GCC sportspeople on Instagram @abeermk, highlight: Athletes
Apart from training, also talks to women about nutrition, healthy lifestyle, diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE APPRENTICE
Director: Ali Abbasi
Starring: Sebastian Stan, Maria Bakalova, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 3/5
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
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Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
TCL INFO
Teams:
Punjabi Legends Owners: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq; Key player: Misbah-ul-Haq
Pakhtoons Owners: Habib Khan and Tajuddin Khan; Key player: Shahid Afridi
Maratha Arabians Owners: Sohail Khan, Ali Tumbi, Parvez Khan; Key player: Virender Sehwag
Bangla Tigers Owners: Shirajuddin Alam, Yasin Choudhary, Neelesh Bhatnager, Anis and Rizwan Sajan; Key player: TBC
Colombo Lions Owners: Sri Lanka Cricket; Key player: TBC
Kerala Kings Owners: Hussain Adam Ali and Shafi Ul Mulk; Key player: Eoin Morgan
Venue Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Format 10 overs per side, matches last for 90 minutes
Timeline October 25: Around 120 players to be entered into a draft, to be held in Dubai; December 21: Matches start; December 24: Finals
