The Special Commission on British Immigrant Appeals (SIAC) has declared the decision to strip Shamima Begum, a former ISIS member, of British citizenship “legitimate”.
The SIAC declared suspicions that Begum may have been a victim of “trafficking” when he went to Syria at the age of 15 to be insufficient, according to the British press.
The 23-year-old man fought for eight years to regain his British citizenship. The decision to deprive him of citizenship was taken by the then minister, Sajid David.
In 2020, the English Court of Appeal allowed Begum to return to the United Kingdom to appeal the decision to strip him of his British citizenship.
However, in 2021, the Supreme Court of England did not overturn its decision, deeming Begum a “threat to national security.”
At 15, Begum married one of the most conservative Daesh members, Iago Riedjik. The two had three children who died.
The British government became aware of Begum’s whereabouts when a journalist discovered her in a refugee camp that a woman described to the BBC as “worse than a prison”.
Like the Begum, many British women are trapped in refugee camps because the government won’t repatriate them, according to the British press. This position has drawn criticism from human rights activists.