LONDON — Shamima Begum, who left the U.K. to join the ISIS terror group while still in school, has lost an appeal over the decision to strip her of British citizenship.
At a secret hearing in November, Begum challenged the removal of her citizenship by the U.K. government in 2019. Her citizenship was removed as the government judged her to be a threat to national security.
The Special Immigration Appeals Commission ruled Wednesday that the decision was lawful. The judge, Robert Jay, said that the “sensitive” issue of whether Begum is a threat to national security is “for the secretary of state to evaluate and not for the commission.”
Begum was 15 when she left her home in London to travel to Syria in 2015. She joined the Islamic State terrorist group, marrying a fellow member shortly after her arrival in Syria.
When she was discovered alive in 2019 at a refugee camp in Northern Syria, Begum said she wanted to return to the U.K. The then-Home Secretary Sajid Javid immediately revoked her British citizenship.
That decision left Begum in Syria where she is indefinitely detained as an ISIS supporter at the camp, which she has described as “worse than prison.”
With her appeal completely dismissed, the now-23-year-old is unlikely to be able to return to the U.K.