UK Supreme Court Halts Shamima Begum Return To The Country

Court Halts Shamima Begum Return: The UK Supreme Court has now halted the return of ISIS bride Shamima Begum 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.

Lord Reed ruled against her and said:  “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."

ISIS bride Shamima Begum Tried To Challenge British Home Office’s decision

Shamima Begum had desperately tried to challenge the British Home Office’s decision of scrapping her British citizenship. Her lawyers tried to argue in her favour in November by saying “she fought, trained or participated in any terrorist activities, nor that she had any role within ISIS." However, Sir James Eadie QC from the Home Office stated that Begum is a "threat to national security."

Begum who is now 21 had fled to Syria along with two of her school friends in 2015. Later, she married a man who was an ISIL fighter. It was only in February 2019 that a journalist found her in a Syrian refugee camp. She was nine months pregnant at that time, and said that she wished to return to the UK.

In July last year, The Court of Appeal ruled that 'the only way in which she can have a fair and effective appeal is to be permitted to come into the UK to pursue her appeal'.

Now, a human rights group named Liberty defended ISIS bride Shamima Begum by saying that the Court's current approach does not serve the purpose. "It's a cynical distraction from a failed counter-terror strategy and another example of this Government's disregard for access to justice and the rule of law, " said Rosie Brighouse, a lawyer with Liberty.

However, in the end, the Supreme Court's ruling prevailed. UK's Home Secretary Priti Patel also argued in favour of the court's decision.

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. In 2014, she married Yago Riedijk, a man of Dutch descent who arrived in Syria in 2014.