Court Considers Whether Woman Who Joined ISIS As A Teen Is Allowed To Return To U.K.

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The eldest sister of Shamima Begum holds her sister’s photo in 2015. Begum, who left London to join the Islamic State as a teenager, is now trying to return to the U.K. to argue her British citizenship should not be revoked.

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Europe
British Woman Who Joined ISIS In Syria As Teen Is Stripped Of U.K. Citizenship

An appeals court ruled in July that «given that the only way in which she can have a fair and effective appeal is to be permitted to come into the United Kingdom to pursue her appeal, fairness and justice must, on the facts of this case, outweigh the national security concerns.»

But in the government’s current appeal, lawyer James Eadie argued to the Supreme Court that Begum «is considered to pose a real and current threat to national security.»

The hearing is expected to last two days, with a decision coming later.

President Trump has urged European countries to accept Islamic State fighters and hold criminal proceedings in their home countries, as NPR reported. He asked countries including Britain, France and Germany take in the more than 800 fighters of European origin who joined ISIS and were captured by the U.S. military.

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Begum’s case could have a wide-reaching impact on other similar cases.

Two other British-born women, under the code names C3 and C4, also begin their appeals today. They too had their British citizenship stripped by the current home secretary, Priti Patel.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said last year that «Despite the complexity of these challenges, rendering people stateless is never an acceptable option.»

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