Court rules British woman who joined ISIS as schoolgirl can’t return to UK

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom ruled on Friday that a British-born woman who went to Syria as a schoolgirl to join ISIS poses a security risk and will not be allowed to return to Britain to fight for her citizenship.

Shamima Begum, now 21, left London in 2015 at the age of 15 and traveled to Syria with two school friends, Reuters reported.

She later lived in Raqqa, the caliphate’s self-declared capital, and married an ISIS fighter. She had three children since leaving Britain but all of the infants have since died, the outlet noted.

In 2019, Begum was stripped of her British citizenship over national security concerns. However, a court ruled last year that she could only have a fair appeal if she were allowed back to Britain.

Friday’s decision means she will have to pursue her appeal against the citizenship move from abroad.

“The right to a fair hearing does not trump all other considerations, such as the safety of the public,” said Robert Reed, the president of the Supreme Court. “If a vital public interest makes it impossible for a case to be fairly heard, then the courts cannot ordinarily hear it.”

Reed said her appeal should have a stay issued until she is in a safer position to take part in her case without endangering the public, according to Reuters.

“That is not a perfect solution, as it is not known how long it may be before that is possible. But there is no perfect solution to a dilemma of the present kind,” he said.

She has said she wants to “clear her name” and told Sky News that she didn’t know what she was getting into when she left.

Begum is currently being held in the Roj camp, run by Syrian Kurdish authorities.

Earlier this month, United Nations human rights experts called for 57 states, including the U.K., to repatriate their citizens being held in the Roj and Al Hol camps.

Officials said conditions at the camps, which hold more than 65,000 people, are facing “deteriorating security” and horrible conditions.

“Thousands of people held in the camps are exposed to violence, exploitation, abuse and deprivation in conditions and treatment that may well amount to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment under international law, with no effective remedy at their disposal. An unknown number have already died because of their conditions of detention,” the U.N. Human Rights commission said in a statement. 

Maya Foa, director of the human rights group Reprieve, told The BBC that preventing Begum from returning to the U.K. remained “a cynical ploy to make her someone else’s responsibility.”

“Abandoning them in a legal black hole — in Guantanamo-like conditions — is out of step with British values and the interests of justice and security,” Foa said.