London, United Kingdom:
Britain’s highest court on Friday rejected a bid by a lady who was stripped of her UK citizenship for joining the ISIS group to return to challenge the selection.
Five judges at the Supreme Court gave a unanimous selection in the case of Shamima Begum, whose legal battles have come to be observed as a test of how nations treat nationals who joined the jihadists.
“Ms Begum’s appeal against the leave to enter decision is dismissed,” the head of the Supreme Court, judge Robert Reed, mentioned in a written judgment.
The judges mentioned the appropriate to a fair hearing did not override other considerations such as the security of the public.
“The appropriate response to the problem in the present case is for the deprivation appeal to be stayed until Ms Begum is in a position to play an effective part in it without the safety of the public being compromised,” they added.
“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.”
Now 21, Begum left her property in east London at the age of 15 to travel to Syria with two college good friends, and married an ISIS fighter.
In 2019 she told The Times newspaper that she did not regret travelling to Syria and had not been “fazed” by seeing a severed head dumped in a bin.
Britain revoked her citizenship in 2019 on national safety grounds amid an outcry led by appropriate-wing newspapers.
Polarising case
Begum is becoming held in a camp in poor circumstances, though her husband is reportedly in jail in Syria, and her 3 kids have died.
She appealed to be permitted back into the UK so that she can legally challenge her loss of citizenship.
She argued that the selection was unlawful as it has created her stateless and exposed her to the danger of death or inhuman and degrading therapy.
Begum is of Bangladeshi heritage but the country’s foreign minister has mentioned he will not take into consideration granting her citizenship.
The Court of Appeal ruled in July final year that Begum necessary to come back to mount a fair and helpful appeal.
But the interior ministry in turn appealed against this selection, insisting she remained “aligned” with the proscribed terrorist organisation.
A government lawyer told the Supreme Court in November her return would generate “an increased risk of terrorism”.
Her legal group argued that this did not override the require for a fair hearing.
Rights groups have argued human rights principles are at stake and Begum ought to answer for any crimes in her property nation.
The tabloid newspaper The Sun has referred to as her a “vile fanatic” who has “no place on our soil”.
Begum claims she married a Dutch convert quickly following arriving in ISIS-held territory. She was found, nine months pregnant, in a Syrian refugee camp in February 2019.
Her newborn infant died quickly following she gave birth. Her two other kids also died in infancy below ISIS rule.