As Shamima Begum makes her first appearance in two years, the Mirror takes a look at the former ISIS bride’s hopes of reclaiming her British citizenship, and the bleak challenges that lie ahead
There could be ‘one last option’ left for ISIS bride Shamima Begum, who dreams of fleeing the Syrian prison camp she resides in and returning to the UK.
Begum was just 15 years old when, in February 2015, she made the perilous journey to Syria from her family home in Bethnal Green, swapping the life of a studious schoolgirl for that of an ISIS bride.
Her story has evoked sympathy and outrage alike, as the debate continues as to what exactly should be done about the stateless young woman, left in limbo in a “filthy” Syrian camp.
For the past six years, Begum, who has been stripped of her British citizenship, has made various attempts to return home to England but has so far been unsuccessful.
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Last year, the 26-year-old attempted to overturn the government’s 2019 decision to take away her citizenship on the grounds of national security, but to no avail.
In August 2024, it was ruled that Begum would not be permitted to challenge this decision at the Supreme Court as the grounds of her case “do not raise an arguable point of law.”
The fall of the Assad regime in December 2024 once again raised questions as to whether Begum might be allowed back on British soil, but these were quickly shut down by then Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who declared that the Government would “always put British security interests first and the safeguarding of our population.”
It would appear, however, that Begum hasn’t yet given up all hope, with her lawyers attempting to make a case to the European Court of Human Rights. But what are her options going forward, and does she have a chance?
Speaking exclusively with the Mirror, James Pipe, a criminologist from Free Grants For Felons, said: “After exhausting every avenue in the British courts, the European Court of Human Rights is effectively the last legal option left to Shamima Begum and her legal team.
“Strasbourg will not revisit the facts of her case in the way a domestic court would – instead, it will examine whether the UK’s actions in stripping her of citizenship were compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.
“The most likely arguments will centre on Article 3, which prohibits inhuman or degrading treatment, and Article 8, which protects the right to private and family life. Her lawyers may also raise issues of due process, arguing that she has been left stateless and unable to properly defend herself from abroad.”
Even if her lawyers successfully argue her case, however, it’s likely Begum will then face another hurdle. Mr Pipe explained: “It’s important to be clear: even if the Court ruled in her favour, it would not automatically reinstate her British citizenship or guarantee her return.
“The ECHR can only issue a judgment that the UK is in breach of its obligations, which would then place political and diplomatic pressure on the Government to act. Any such decision would remain deeply controversial and would likely spark a significant political debate here at home.”
“Realistically, while Begum’s lawyers are right to pursue this route, the odds of her ever being permitted back to Britain remain very slim.
“The Government has taken a firm line on national security, and public opinion is overwhelmingly opposed to her return. In that context, even a favourable judgment in Strasbourg would not guarantee the outcome her legal team is seeking.”
Begum’s story began a decade ago. Accompanied by her two school friends, Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase – themselves just 15 and 16 respectively at the time – the teen crossed over the border of Turkey and into every parent’s worst nightmare. Just ten days after arriving in Raqqa, Begum wed convicted terrorist Yago Riedijk, a Dutch convert to Islam some eight years her senior.
Far from her ordinary teenage life in East London, Begum was suddenly in a world of extreme violence where, by her own admission, she witnessed the beheading of a man she later described as an “enemy of Islam”.
Begum and Riedijk had three children, all of whom died tragically young. The role which Begum had during her time in the so-called ‘caliphate’ remains disputed. She herself has claimed to have been “just a housewife”, a narrative supported by Riedijk.
However, a 2019 report in The Telegraph paints a very different picture, with witnesses claiming Begum was a strict member of the Khansaa Battalion, an all-female “police squad” which cracked down on morality laws.
One witness recalls Begum shouting “at a civilian woman wearing brightly coloured shoes”, adding that she was known for carrying a Kalashnikov rifle.
Whatever life Begum lived out in Raqqa, by October 2017, it was soon all over, with a US-backed alliance of Syrian fighters taking control of the city, and putting an end to three years of ISIS terror.
By February 2019, The Times’s war correspondent Anthony Loyd had tracked Begum down to the al-Hawl refugee camp in Northern Syria. She was by then 19, pregnant with her third tragic child, and longing to go home.
Mere days after this bombshell interview, the British government served notice that Begum would be stripped of her British citizenship, dividing public opinion. While some viewed her sympathetically as a teenager who’d been groomed by insidious forces, others felt her decision could not go unpunished.
Begum now resides at al-Roj detention camp in Syria, where she was recently tracked down by the Daily Express. This was the now 26-year-old’s first media appearance in two years, and reporters noted that “her eyes were somewhat sunken, and she seemed pale, as well as very thin”.
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