Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is set to vigorously defend the decision to cancel ISIS bride Shamima Begum’s citizenship amid a new legal challenge. Begum’s legal team claims she was manipulated for sexual exploitation at 15. The European Court of Human Rights has requested clarifications from the UK regarding this contentious action.
Shamima Begum, a native of London, contested the UK’s citizenship revocation in 2019 after she traveled to Islamic State territory as a schoolgirl. Despite the challenge, a Government insider stated that Mahmood remains firm on the decision.
Former Conservative Home Secretary Sajid Javid stripped Begum of her citizenship due to national security concerns after she married an ISIS member. Begum’s lawyers are invoking Article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits slavery and forced labor, following the UK Supreme Court’s refusal to allow her to contest the decision.
Judges in Strasbourg have inquired whether the government should have considered Begum as a trafficking victim. Lawyer Gareth Peirce highlighted the failures to protect a vulnerable child at high risk of exploitation. The Home Secretary is prepared to defend the citizenship revocation, emphasizing national security as the top priority.
The Conservative Party maintains that Begum should not be readmitted to the UK. Begum, now 26, journeyed to Syria in 2015 with two schoolmates, both of whom reportedly died. She married an ISIS recruit shortly after her arrival and tragically lost all three of her children.
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