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ISIS bride Shamima Begum STRIPPED of British citizenship after showing no remorse for fleeing to Syria
ISIS bride Shamima Begum has been stripped of her British citizenship after showing no remorse for joining the terror group.
An official Home Office letter breaking the shock news was delivered to Begum's "disappointed" family earlier today.
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"Please find enclosed papers that relate to a decision taken by the Home Secretary, to deprive your daughter, Shamima Begum, of her British citizenship," the letter read.
"In light of the circumstances of your daughter, the notice of the Home Secretary's decision has been served of file today (19th February), and the order removing her British citizenship has subsequently been made."
- went on to urge the Begum family to make their daughter aware of the decision while adding she had the right to appeal.
It's not yet known how the ban will affect her newborn son Jerah - who is half British and half Dutch.
The schoolgirl's family have said they are “disappointed” by the Home Office's decision, said their lawyer Tasnime Akunjee.
“We do not comment on individual cases, but any decisions to deprive individuals of their citizenship are based on all available evidence and not taken lightly.”
The Conservative chair of the Commons Education Committee, Robert Halfon, who had spoken out against allowing Shamima to return, said in a tweet that Mr Javid had made "absolutely the right decision".
While Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Sir Ed Davey said: "Membership of a terrorist group is a serious crime, as is encouraging or supporting terrorism. But Shamima Begum should face justice for those crimes in the UK.
"It is not only hard to see Ms Begum and her baby as constituting a serious threat to national security, but it also seems a huge wasted opportunity.
"We can learn lessons as to why a young girl went to Syria in the first place - lessons which could improve Britain's security by helping us prevent this happening again."
However, last night one immigration lawyer she may get back into Britain because of her baby.
BABY CHANCE
Asif Salam, an immigration solicitor from Salam Immigration, said: "The child cannot possibly live without his mother, it’s not in his best interest for the child to be in the UK without the mother.
"So because of the child, the mother could by default get back her nationality or get a limited leave to remain – to be able to live with her child in the UK."
Earlier we reported how Begum will be quizzed by cops and could be arrested if she returns to the UK.
Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said the teenager would be spoken to by counter-terror cops if she were to return to the UK from Syria.
She said: "If she does... arrive at our borders somebody in her type of circumstances could expect, of course, to be spoken to and if there is the appropriate necessity, to be potentially arrested and certainly investigated.
"If that results in sufficient evidence for a prosecution then it will result in sufficient evidence for a prosecution.
"The officers will deal with whatever they are confronted with."
The former Brit schoolgirl fled from her home in Bethnal Green, East London, as a 15-year-old to join Islamic State in 2015.
She has this week pleaded to be allowed to return home after giving birth to a baby boy.
Ms Begum said in a BBC interview: "I actually do support some British values and I am willing to go back to the UK and settle back again and rehabilitate and that stuff."
She added: "The poster girl thing was not my choice."
ARENA OUTRAGE
However she also said the murder of 22 music fans in the Manchester Arena suicide bombing was “fair justification” for air raids on IS in Syria.
Showing no remorse, the 19-year-old dismissed the atrocity at the 2017 Ariana Grande concert as “retaliation.”
She left London in February 2015 with two school friends to follow another classmate to Syria.
She said one friend, Kadiza Sultana, had died in an airstrike but the other Bethnal Green girls, Amira Abase and Sharmeena Begum, had stayed with ISIS in Baghuz.
She said she feared she will never see her husband, the Dutch jihadist Yago Riedijk again, whom she still loved “very much”.
Riedijk, 26, a convert to Islam who grew up in a middle-class family home in Arnhem, is suspected by police of being involved in a terrorist plot in the Netherlands.
He was convicted in his absence last year of membership of a terrorist group.
Why and how was Shamima Begum stripped of her British citizenship?
The Home Secretary's power to deprive someone of their British citizenship is covered by Section 40 British Nationality Act 1981.
It states the Home Sec must be satisfied "it would be conducive to the public good to deprive person of his or her British nationality.
The official regulations add "that s/he would not become stateless as a result of the deprivation."
Home Office guidance states that 'Conduciveness to the Public Good' means "depriving in the public interest on the grounds of involvement in terrorism, espionage, serious organised crime, war crimes or unacceptable behaviours."
If Shamima Begum decides to appeal the ecision to impose deprivation of citizenship order she has 28 days to appeal to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission
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Questions have been raised over whether Britain would be able to prevent Begum's eventual return to the UK.
Shamima's parents had been consulting their lawyer about legal action against the government to force it to allow the teenager back into the country.
However, Home Secretary Sajid Javid had warned he "will not hesitate" to prevent the return of Britons who travelled to join ISIS.
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ISIS bride Shamima Begum begs Britain for 'sympathy' after giving birth in Syrian refugee camp - but STILL doesn't regret joining terror group
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