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British teen who joined Daesh to have citizenship revoked

February 19, 2019 at 7:49 pm

A photograph of Shamima Begum in London, UK on 22 February 2015 [Laura Lean/WPA Pool/Getty Images]

A British teenager who joined Daesh in 2015 will have her citizenship revoked after pleading with the government to allow her to return to the UK, Anadolu Agency reports.

Shamima Begum was 15 when she and three friends traveled to Syria to join the terror group in Raqqa. There she married a Dutch fighter and gave birth to two children, both of whom have since passed away.

“Family are very disappointed with the Home Office’s intention to have an order made depriving Shamima of her citizenship” Begum family lawyer Tasnime Akunjee said on Twitter. “We are considering all legal avenues to challenge this decision.”

Begum, now 19, fled to the al-Hawl refugee camp in Idlib and gave birth to a third child Sunday before giving an interview to Sky News where she asked the government of UK. to have sympathy and allow her to return.

READ: UK reluctant to allow Daesh teen home from Syria 

“I was hoping that maybe for the sake of me and my child they let me come back. Because I can’t live in this camp forever. It’s not really possible,” Begum said.

She argues she was not an active member of Daesh. “They don’t have any evidence against me doing anything dangerous,” she said. “When I went to Syria I was just a housewife, the entire four years I stayed at home, took care of my husband, took care of my kids. I never did anything. I never made propaganda, I never encouraged people to come to Syria”.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid has said he would block any attempts at return by British fighters and, should they succeed in returning they would face prosecution.