Shamima Begum says the government and UK police failed to protect her from being trafficked for sexual exploitation by ISIS, as she mounted her latest bid to regain her British citizenship.
The 24-year-old was stripped of her citizenship on national security grounds bythen-Home Secretary Sajid Javid in 2019, four years after she left her home ineast London and travelled to Syria.
Begum lost a Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) challenge in February, but has now taken her case to the Court of Appeal.
Samantha Knights KC, who is part of Begum’s five-strong team of barristers, told the court the government had failed to consider whether the teenager was a victim, or investigate whether she had been “failed” prior to leaving the UK.
She pointed to the case of another group of schoolgirls from Tower Hamlets who had been radicalised and were successfully stopped from joining the terror group thanks to swift action from police and the courts.
“In contrast in (Begum’s) case there was no State protection”, said Ms Knights. “SIAC found that there were arguable State failures by the police, the school, and the local authority to take reasonable preventative measures to protect (her) from being trafficked.
“The UK has since failed to investigate these State failures, and Ms Begum has been provided with no protection or recovery services by the UK authorities.
“Instead, (she) was deprived of her British citizenship.”
Begum was 15 when she travelled from Bethnal Green, east London, through Turkey and into territory controlled by ISIS. Two other schoolgirls who also made the journey are believed to now have died.
Begum’s lawyers say she fell victim to the ISIS propaganda machine, was “groomed” into terrorism, and once in Syria she was sexually exploited.
Ms Knights said the man responsible was an ISIS operative who was also an agent for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
“As a child aged 15 she was “married” within weeks to a much older Dutch ISISvolunteer.
“She spent the next four years including whilst still a child herself, repeatedlypregnant. She gave birth to three children, all of whom died in infancy.”In a three-day hearing before Lady Chief Justice Lady Carr, Lord Justice Bean and Lady Justice Whipple, Begum is set to argue that Mr Javid’s decision to strip her of citizenship was flawed by a failure to consider whether she was a victim of trafficking – an alleged breach of article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
She will also say that the Home Secretary made a mistake when rendering herstateless, as her supposed claim to Bangladeshi citizenship is “of no practicalvalue to her”.
Begum, who is currently believed to be living in a Syrian refugee camp, will alsoargue she was denied the chance to make representations before her Britishcitizenship was withdrawn.
The Home Office, which is fighting Begum’s appeal, highlighted statements she made when she was first found in a refugee camp by a journalist, when she “expressed no remorse” and was quoted as saying she made her own decisions to join ISIS and “it would be really hard for her to be rehabilitated”.
Its lawyers argue the decision over citizenship lies with the Home Secretary, and the minister is entitled to consider the national security risk. “The fact that someone is radicalised, and may have been manipulated, is not inconsistent with the assessment that they pose a national security risk”, they said, in written submissions.
“Ms Begum contends that national security should not be a ‘trump’ card. But thepublic should not be exposed to risks to national security because events andcircumstances have conspired to give rise to that risk.”
The Home Office says an assessment by the Security Services had concluded Begum travelled to Syria “voluntarily”, she has given no evidence of her journey to ISIS, and it pointed out the SIAC ruling only refers to a “credible suspicion” Begum was trafficked for sexual exploitation.
The hearing continues.
