Islamic State bride Shamima Begum risks being murdered because UK citizenship was revoked

Islamic State bride Shamima Begum risks being tortured and murdered as a result of the decision to revoke her UK citizenship, a court has heard.

Begum, who fled from East London to Syria in 2015, lived under IS rule for more than three years.

She was found, nine months pregnant, in a Syrian refugee camp in February this year.

Former home secretary Sajid Javid stripped her of her British citizenship, a decision her lawyers argue was unlawful as it rendered her stateless.

Such a decision is lawful only if an individual is entitled to citizenship of another country.

Ms Begum, now 20, is bringing proceedings against the Home Office at the High Court and the Special Immigration Appeals Commission.

Tom Hickman QC told Mrs Justice Elisabeth Laing that the situation in the al-Roj camp where his client is currently held is “incredibly fragile and dangerous”.

In written submissions, he described conditions, where Ms Begum’s third child died in March, as “wretched and squalid”, adding that “the tragic death of the appellant’s infant child … demonstrates that fact”.

The court is being asked to determine “whether the deprivation decision rendered the applicant stateless”. The Home Office says the decision does not.

Mr Hickman said the court also had to decide “whether the deprivation decision gave rise to a real risk of death or degrading and inhuman treatment”.

In his written case, the Home Office’s barrister, Jonathan Glasson QC,

argued that Ms Begum “was a Bangladeshi citizen by descent, in accordance with Bangladeshi law, and so was not rendered stateless by the deprivation decision”.

Ms Begum, was one of three schoolgirls from Bethnal Green Academy who left their homes and families to join IS.

Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase, then 16 and 15 respectively, and Ms Begum boarded a flight from Gatwick Airport to Istanbul, Turkey, on February 17, 2015, before making their way to Raqqa in Syria.

Mrs Justice Elisabeth Laing is expected to reserve her judgment.

Source: Mirror