Shamima Begum

Not to be confused with Sharmeena Begum (not a family relation) who left for Syria two months earlier.

Shamima Begum
Born (1999-08-25) 25 August 1999 (age 25)
London, England
CitizenshipUnited Kingdom
(until 2019)
EducationBethnal Green Academy
Spouse
Yago Riedijk
​
(m. 2015)​
Children3 (all deceased)

Shamima Begum (born 25 August 1999)[1] is a British-born woman who entered Syria to join the Islamic State at the age of 15.[2] As of 2024, she is living in al-Roj detention camp in Syria.[3][4]

While enrolled at Bethnal Green Academy, Begum and two schoolmates travelled to Syria in February 2015. The journey was facilitated by an IS smuggler who was providing information to Canadian intelligence. Ten days after her arrival, Begum married a 23-year-old fellow IS member; the marriage produced three children, who all died young.

In February 2019, Begum was discovered alive at the al-Hawl refugee camp in Northern Syria by war correspondent Anthony Loyd. The following day, British Home Secretary Sajid Javid revoked her British citizenship,[5] stating that Begum would never be allowed to return to the United Kingdom.[6] Begum initiated legal proceedings challenging the lawfulness of this decision. British courts ruled that Javid's decision had been lawful, with the Supreme Court refusing Begum's final attempt for permission to appeal on 7 August 2024.[7] At the present time, Begum can launch no further legal challenge within the British legal system, but has, through her lawyers, intimated an intention to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights.[8]

  1. ^ "Royal Court of Justice Judgement" (PDF). 16 July 2020 – via www.judiciary.uk.
  2. ^ "Shamima Begum to find out today if she is allowed back in the UK". Sky News. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  3. ^ "Shamima Begum to find out today if she is allowed back in the UK". Sky News. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  4. ^ Crawford, Alex. "Inside the 'ticking time bomb' camp where Shamima Begum is being held". Sky News. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBC-47310206 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Wyatt, Tim (29 September 2019). "Isis bride Shamima Begum will never be allowed to return to UK, says government". The Independent.
  7. ^ "Shamima Begum loses final UK court bid over citizenship".
  8. ^ "Shamima Begum loses final UK court bid over citizenship".