The British government has vowed to robustly defend its decision to revoke Shamima Begum’s citizenship as the case moves to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
Despite the ECHR launching a fresh investigation into the move, government sources maintain that the decision has been repeatedly upheld by domestic courts.
Begum was 15 when she fled East London in 2015 to join the Islamic State in Syria. Now 26, she remains in a Syrian refugee camp, having been stripped of her nationality in 2019 on national security grounds.
Her legal team argues that the UK failed to recognize her as a victim of grooming and human trafficking, claiming she was a child “lured and deceived” for sexual exploitation.
The ECHR has now formally questioned the Home Office on whether ministers had a legal obligation to consider Begum’s status as a trafficking victim before making her a non-citizen. This international challenge follows the UK Supreme Court’s recent refusal to hear her appeal.
While human rights lawyers highlight the catalogue of failures in protecting Begum as a minor, political figures have doubled down on the ban.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp stated that Begum “chose to support violent extremists” and has no place in the UK. The government maintains that national security remains the absolute priority, insisting that Begum who held Bangladeshi citizenship by descent—was not left stateless.
Meanwhile the outcome at Strasbourg will now determine if the UK’s domestic ruling stands under international human rights law.
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