ISIS bride Shamima Begum ‘should be allowed back into Britain’, counter-terrorism review finds
Begum, who left east London to join Islamic State when she was 15, should be allowed to return as leaving her and those in similar situations in limbo was “unsustainable” and threatens to turn detention camps in northeastern Syria into “Britain’s Guantanamo”, according to a report by the Independent Commission on UK Counterterrorismon.
Conditions at the Syrian camps, including Al Hol and Al Roj, “constitute inhuman and degrading treatment”, the report said.
Detaining British-linked people to live in these sites instead of letting them come back into Britain is “inconsistent” with the UK’s international human rights obligations, the report found.
“The government should facilitate the voluntary repatriation for British nationals, including those deprived of British nationality.
“It should appoint a special envoy to oversee repatriation and inform returnees of the likelihood of prosecution,” the commission said.
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Between 50 and 70 individuals born in Britain and those like Begum who have citizenship revoked are thought to be detained in these camps, according to estimates.
Most of them are reportedly women and between 12 to 30 children, half of whom are allegedly under the age of 10.
The commission says the government may be forced to take back these individuals following pressure from the US – describing Britain as an outlier in its policy to strip citizenship of those who have joined IS, leaving them stranded in camps.
“Pressure from the US government, which has called for all states to take back their nationals, the change in the Syrian regime, and as other states repatriate, the prospect of what was referred to as ‘Europe’s Guantanamo’ becoming ‘Britain’s Guantanamo’, may force the government to begin returns,” it said.
It comes after Sebastian Gorka, Donald Trump’s counter-terrorism chief, called for any “serious ally” of the United States to commit to taking back citizens currently languishing in Syrian prison camps.
But in January, then-Foreign Secretary David Lammy confirmed the Government had no plans to allow Begum back into the country.
Aged 15, Shamima Begum travelled from Bethnal Green, east London, into territory controlled by IS.
She was “married off” to an IS fighter and was stripped of her British citizenship in February 2019, and she has been stranded in a Syrian camp ever since.
Last year, Begum lost an appeal against the removal of her British citizenship.
