10 Things To Know About Shamima Begum Case

Shamima Begum Case: Shamima Begum is a young woman who left the United Kingdom to join the Islamic State in 2015.

She is making headlines as she wishes to challenge the British Home Office's decision of removing her British citizenship. Now the UK's highest court will decide on whether Shamima Begum will be allowed to return to the UK and pursue her appeal.

Here are 9 things to know about the Shamima Begum case:

1. Shamima Begum was born to Bangladeshi parents in England. At the age of 15, she ran away from London with two of her friends to Syria to supposedly bring back Sharmeena Begum, a friend who had travelled there in 2014.
2. In 2014, she married Yago Riedijk, a man of Dutch descent who arrived in Syria in 2014. He had converted to Islam and was an ISIL fighter.
3. Begum was found in the al-Hawl refugee camp by Anthony Loyd, a correspondent on 13 February 2019. She revealed that she was nine months pregnant with her third child, and wished to return to the UK where she could raise her child. However, the child reportedly succumbed to pneumonia. Her other two children had died previously.
4. However, Sajid Javid, the then Home Secretary of the UK prevented Begum from returning and cancelled her citizenship.
5. Begum tried to challenge his decision but found that he was allowed to do so. She had appealed about this to the Special Immigration Appeal Commission (SIAC) who ruled in Javid's favour.
6. However, a UK law holds that a person cannot be left 'stateless.' The British government stated that she might be eligible for Bangladeshi citizenship, but the Bangladeshi government has stated that she won't be given citizenship.
7.  On 16 July 2020, the UK Court of Appeal ruled in Begum's favour by stating that she can return to the UK to appeal against the citizenship decision.
8. The hearing for the same was conducted in November last year. Begum's lawyers stated that the case was  “no more than that she travelled to Syria and ‘aligned with’” Isis, and that “it is not alleged that she fought, trained or participated in any terrorist activities, nor that she had any role” within ISIS.
9. Sir James Eadie QC from the home office told the court that Shamima Begum was a security threat. “She is assessed to pose a real and current threat to national security. She is aligned with Isis." The Shamima Begum case is indeed a controversial one.
10. On February 26, The UK Supreme Court halted Begum's return into the country. The court decided to rule in favour of the British government and stated that Begum can’t return to the UK to reclaim her citizenship.

The right to a fair hearing does not trump all other considerations, such as the safety of the public. If a vital public interest makes it impossible for a case to be fairly heard then the courts cannot ordinarily hear it: UK Supreme on blocking Begum's return to the country.