U.K. Woman Who Joined IS in Syria Can Return, Court Says

© Photographer: WPA Pool/Getty Images Europe LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 22: (EDITORS NOTE: FACE IN PHOTO BEING HELD DELIBERATELY COVERED BY SISTER) Renu Begum, eldest sister of Shamima Begum, 15, holds her sister’s photo as she is interviewed by the media at New Scotland Yard, as the relatives of three missing schoolgirls believed to have fled to Syria to join Islamic State have pleaded for them to return home, on February 22, 2015 in London, England. Police are urgently trying to trace Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16, and 15-year-old Amira Abase after they flew to Istanbul in Turkey from Gatwick Airport on Tuesday. (Photo by Laura Lean – WPA Pool/Getty Images)

(Bloomberg) —

A U.K. woman who joined the Islamic State as a teenager can return to the U.K. to appeal the government’s decision to strip her of her British citizenship, a London court ruled Thursday.

Shamima Begum, who was born in Britain, fled to Syria with two school friends in 2015 and married a member of the terrorist group. She now lives in a camp in northern Syria. In February 2019, then U.K. Home Secretary Sajid Javid decided to strip Begum of her citizenship and in June of the same year, she was refused the right to enter the U.K. to challenge the decision.

She says losing her British citizenship would render her stateless, while the Home Office argues that she qualifies for Bangladeshi citizenship through her parents, who live in the U.K.

The Court of Appeal said on Thursday that Begum can’t play a “meaningful part” in the appeal from abroad, and should be allowed back to ensure a “fair and effective” process.

The case will add to pressure on Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government over the status of other Britons who were stripped of their citizenship after fighting in Syria. Reprieve, a criminal justice and human rights group, estimates there are as many as 20 British “family units” in northeast Syria who should be repatriated to the U.K.

The British government is “bitterly disappointed” by the Begum ruling, James Slack, Johnson’s spokesman, told reporters.

“We will now apply for permission to appeal this judgment to stay its effect,” Slack said. “We will always ensure the safety and security of the U.K.”

Addressing national security concerns, High Court Judge Julian Flaux said that she could be “arrested and charged upon her arrival” and “remanded in custody pending trial” if the Security Service and the Director of Public Prosecutions consider that there are grounds for prosecuting her for terrorism offenses.

“I am afraid the return of Shamima Begum was entirely predictable,” Conservative MP and former Cabinet minister David Davis said on Twitter after the ruling. “The government should now change this policy to bring back children and mothers where there is not an explicit risk.”

The Court of Appeal overturned a decision made in February by a special immigration court.

“Shamima Begum has not won her case but the court has ruled that it is impossible for her to have a fair trial without returning to the U.K.,” said Colin Yeo, an immigration lawyer at Garden Court Chambers in London. The courts may ultimately uphold the decision to deprive her of her British citizenship, he said.

Begum was found by a Times journalist in a Syrian refugee camp in 2019. In a TV interview, she said a terrorist attack at a concert in Manchester was justified because of the bombings in Syria, adding that it was “retaliation” and a “two-way thing.”

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