Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is ready to vigorously defend the decision to cancel ISIS bride Shamima Begum’s citizenship amid a new legal challenge. Begum’s lawyers claim she was manipulated for sexual exploitation at 15. The European Court of Human Rights seeks clarification from the UK regarding this controversial action.
Shamima Begum, born in London, contests the decision to revoke her UK citizenship in 2019, when she was a minor traveling to ISIS-held territory. Despite the legal battle, a Government insider indicated that Mahmood stands firm on the matter.
Former Tory Home Secretary Sajid Javid made the citizenship revocation citing national security concerns, after Begum’s marriage to an ISIS militant. Her legal team is challenging the decision based on the prohibition of slavery and forced labor under the European Convention on Human Rights, following the UK Supreme Court’s rejection of her appeal.
Strasbourg judges question whether the UK should have considered Begum a trafficking victim. Lawyer Gareth Peirce argues that she was deceived into joining ISIS for sexual exploitation. Despite these claims, the Government is resolute in defending the citizenship revocation decision, emphasizing national security priorities.
The Conservative party opposes Begum’s return to the UK. Begum, now 26, traveled to Syria in 2015 with two schoolmates, both reported deceased. She married an ISIS member upon arrival and endured the loss of all three children she bore in Syria.