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Tuesday March 19, 2024

Daesh teen ´shocked´ after UK revokes her citizenship

Teen was shocked by a government decision to revoke her citizenship and was considering applying to settle in the Netherlands

By AFP
February 20, 2019

LONDON: A British teenager who joined the Daesh in Syria said on Wednesday she was shocked by a government decision to revoke her citizenship and was considering applying to settle in the Netherlands, the homeland of her husband.

Shamima Begum, who travelled to Syria in 2015 and now wants to return to Britain after giving birth in a refugee camp in Syria last week, said the order was "unjust".

"I am a bit shocked," she told ITV News after learning of the move, which was announced in a letter on Tuesday from the British government to her mother in London.

"It´s a bit upsetting and frustrating. I feel like it´s a bit unjust on me and my son."

She said an ‘option’ could be to apply for citizenship in The Netherlands, where her husband and the father of her newborn child — an Daesh fighter believed to be held by Kurdish forces in Syria — is from and has relatives.

The case highlights a dilemma facing many European countries, divided over whether to allow militants and Daesh sympathisers home to face prosecution or bar them over security concerns as the so-called ‘caliphate’ crumbles.

Britain´s Home Office said it did not discuss individual cases when asked about Begum.

Interior minister Sajid Javid told lawmakers on Wednesday that revoking citizenship was "a powerful tool" not used lightly.

"But when someone turns their back on (our) fundamental values and supports terror they don´t have an automatic right to return to the UK," he said.

However, Javid hinted that Begum´s newborn son could be treated differently.

"Children should not suffer, so if a parent does lose their British citizenship it does not affect the rights of their child," the minister said.