Shamima Begum’s return to the UK ‘puts lives at risk’ as 150 ISIS killers could demand the same
TERROR bride Shamima Begum has been given the green light to return to the UK — and experts now warn up to 150 jihadi killers could demand the same.
A court ruled the IS fanatic, 20, can appeal her loss of UK citizenship. But sources feared “dramatic repercussions”.
The Court of Appeal dismissed fears of a threat from Begum, who once claimed she was “not fazed” by seeing heads in bins.
But Dr Alan Mendoza, director of the Henry Jackson Society think tank, warned that the ruling could usher in scores of killers.
He said: “The deeply troubling implication of this judgment is that up to 150 terrorists are now legally entitled to enter the UK in order to appeal the decision in their case.
“The already overworked security services will have their work cut out with this potential sudden influx. This decision could have dramatic repercussions for our entire counter-terror strategy.”
And Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen said: “It opens the door for all her fellow jihadi brides to return – and potentially their terrorist partners too.
“Most Brits will rightly think that, when you swear allegiance to another country that declares war on Britain, you have given up all the rights and protections and privileges of your British citizenship. After today’s ruling it appears you have not.”
It opens the door for all her fellow jihadi brides to return – and potentially their terrorist partners too.
Andrew Bridgen MP
Ex-Home Secretary Sajid Javid, who took away Begum’s passport, said that if the 20-year-old returned it “will prove impossible to subsequently remove her”.
A Whitehall source warned: “MI5 and the police don’t have unlimited resources. If a terror suspect returns and needs surveillance, that coverage has to be redirected from elsewhere.”
Begum, then 15, quit the UK to join IS in Syria in 2015. She was with two teenage pals from Bethnal Green, East London — Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase, both now thought to be dead.
Begum married a Dutch IS fighter and had two kids who later died. In February last year she was found in a refugee camp in Syria.
Begum was pregnant with her third child, who died soon after. She told The Times she did not regret joining the Islamic death cult.
Mr Javid then stripped her of UK citizenship, which was backed in polls by the British public.
Begum’s legal aid-funded lawyers went to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, which threw out her case in February.
It ruled Begum was a “citizen of Bangladesh by descent” so Begum launched a judicial review.
During a two-day hearing at London’s Court of Appeal, Begum’s lawyers argued that stripping her of UK citizenship meant she could not have a “fair and effective appeal”.
Tom Hickman QC said: “Just because somebody has gone out to Syria it is not an indication they pose a security risk.”
The Home Office’s QC Sir James Eadie told the court: “The fact the appellant could not fully engage with the statutory appeal procedure was a result of her decision to leave the UK, travel to Syria against Foreign and Commonwealth Office advice and align with IS.”
But Lord Justice Flaux, sitting with two other judges, ruled the appeal can be allowed.
This is a very disappointing decision by the court.We will now apply for permission to appeal this judgment.
Home Office spokesman
He said: “Fairness and justice must, on the facts of this case, outweigh the national security concerns.”
The Home Office vowed to appeal the decision. If it loses, Begum could fly back within months.
Mr Javid warned it created a national security risk and served as a “lightning rod” for far-right and Islamist extremists.
Begum was seen at a refugee camp in northern Syria on Thursday. She had ditched her Islamic clothing for jeans, top, white trainers and a sun hat.
Experts said the Home Office could try to move her to a better refugee camp with computer access - allowing an online hearing.
A Home Office spokesman said: “This is a very disappointing decision by the court.
“We will now apply for permission to appeal this judgment.”
I.S. matchmaker
BRITISH mum Tooba Gondal groomed jihadi brides and taunted UK cops on social media.
The former AK-47-toting IS bride even bragged about living a life of “real freedom”.
It is claimed she may have recruited Shamima Begum.
Gondal, dubbed the “IS matchmaker”, fled East London in 2015, aged 22.
Now 25, the daughter of a wealthy businessman is reported to be living in Ayn Issa camp, Syria, with her two young kids.
She has a Home Office exclusion order.
But she said she wanted to “redeem herself” and “face justice in a UK court”
'Enemy of Britain'
JACK Letts, 24, declared himself an “enemy of Britain” when he fled the country to fight with IS.
“Jihadi Jack” went to Raqqa in Syria in 2014, aged 18, having converted to Islam.
He married an Iraqi woman with whom he had a son, and was captured by Kurdish YPG forces while trying to flee Syria to Turkey in May 2017.
Farmer’s son Letts begged to be allowed back to his home in Oxfordshire and claimed he had “no intentions of blowing up Brits”.
He was stripped of his British citizenship and is now being held in a Kurdish prison.
'Beatles' executioners
MEMBERS of “The Beatles” terror cell are thought to have killed a number of high-profile Western hostages.
Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh are accused of belonging to the brutal four-man unit of IS executioners in Syria — given the pop nickname because of their British accents.
Elsheikh, dubbed George, and Kotey, known as Ringo, were captured in January 2018, sparking an international row over whether they should be returned to the UK for trial.
They have both been stripped of their British citizenship.
A court heard that the group produced brutal propaganda videos that depicted the beheading of nearly 27 victims.
Recruiter for evil
ICE cream salesman Aseel Muthana was said to have become a recruiter for IS after joining the terrorist organisation.
Muthana, who lived in Wales, was tracked down to a hellhole prison in northern Syria by ITV News, where he was packed in with thousands of men and boys.
Now aged 22, he said he missed his mother and wanted to come home.
In a message to his mum, he urged her to “try to stay strong”, adding: “What’s happened has happened and we both believe in Allah and we believe that Allah will make a way out.”
Aseel, one of the first British recruits to join IS, has been stripped of British citizenship.
'Hungry Hamza'
HAMZA Parvez has appeared in IS propaganda videos and even hailed the “golden era of jihad”.
The fast food fan was nicknamed “Hungry Hamza” and teased by other jihadis in Syria for his bulging waistline — while whining about missing KFC and Nando’s.
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Parvez, 25, was originally from North West London and joined IS aged 20 in 2014.
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The terrorist, who no longer has British citizenship, soon became known for bizarre online posts including one of him eating ice cream in Mosul.
In another he declared the UK was “not the land for us”.
Toxic judgement
By Imam Dr Taj Hargey, Oxford Islamic Congregation
THE moment Shamima Begum sets foot on UK soil, liberal Muslims like me have lost the battle.
That’s why I’m so distressed and offended by the ruling to let her return and fight to regain her citizenship.
This should not even be a question. She is someone who has never shown any remorse for the horrendous things she has done.
She took her Britishness for granted, while many innocent UK Muslims found they were brought into disrepute by her actions.
Some call Shamima’s decision to run away and join IS a “youthful indiscretion”. It was not.
She knowingly joined and fought alongside a group that was chopping off heads, throwing homosexuals off buildings, raping and enslaving people.
And she wants us to overlook all that, simply because she was young? When Shamima ran off, she bragged of being an adult making her own choices.
That means she should have to face the full, severe consequences of them.
Instead the Court of Appeal has issued a frankly untenable and offensive judgment which sends a clear message to other fundamentalists and fanatics: no matter what you do, Britain will welcome you with open arms.
The court says Shamima was denied a fair hearing because she could not make her case from the Syrian camp where she is living. What a bogus argument.
Cabinet meetings can be conducted via Zoom, as they have been during the Covid crisis, so there is no reason she should not be able to make her case via video link too.
Make no mistake — once Shamima comes back to Britain we’ll never get rid of her again.
Even if she loses her case there will be appeal after appeal, while she reaps the benefits of NHS treatment and social security.
Our namby pamby state, too cowardly to send a clear message, will be made to look ridiculous.
This toxic decision will sow yet more divisions in our society and ordinary Muslims will be blamed even though they have nothing in common with this awful, unpatriotic woman.
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