Benefiting from media attention, Shamima Begum is becoming increasingly manipulative but remains vulnerable in Syria, say the filmmakers who became her confidants in making a documentary about her life. I.
Ms Begum, who fled her east London home in 2015 to join the so-called Islamic State at the age of 15, lost her appeal to regain her British citizenship on Wednesday.
Cinematographers Andrew Drury and Richard Ashmore have stated that while they both believe Begum should regain her British citizenship, they also believe she should be tried in the UK for claiming to be a volunteer member of ISIS, which helped produce vests for suicide bombers for a terrorist group. .
Both also said that she enjoyed the attention her case had attracted and that the fame she felt she had achieved meant that she could be vain and demanding.
“I liked her when I first met her,” said Drury, who interviewed her several times at Al Roj Detention Center in northeastern Syria. “But over time, she became more demanding. When I went there, she asked me to bring her things, like clothes. I felt that maybe I was being manipulated when I got to know her better.
Mr Drury adds that he remembers how her embarrassment turned into a “sense of victimhood” after she asked him to give her a copy. Diary of GuantanamoMohamedo Ould Slakhy’s book about his time in an American prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
“Then she had a transition,” Mr. Drury added. “She got into that type of character, that victim character, and that book. I think it was almost a guide for them, because, obviously, this guy was imprisoned illegally, and then released.
“About that time, I realized that she was playing with me and maybe trying to play the system by becoming a victim.”
Although he doubts Ms Begum’s innocence, Mr Drury is convinced she should regain her British citizenship.
“She was born in Bethnal Green in East London,” he said. “She is just as British as everyone else. She’s our problem, and she needs to stand trial and serve time here.
Journalist Richard Ashmore, who worked with Drury on a documentary about her life as an ISIS bride, added that while life in a Syrian POW camp is harsh, Begum enjoys the comforts of home, including Internet access.
“She always reads everything that is written about her,” Ashmore said. “She loves to be the center of attention. She likes to read what people think about her, how she looks. She is quite vain.
“I remember when we talked to some of the other women in the camp, she got angry, threw a tantrum, because the attention was not only focused on her. She can often be quite immature, but she is also smart enough to know what to say when asked to return to the UK.”
Mr Ashmore also believes that Ms Begum should get her British citizenship back and that her recent setback will hit her hard.
“She’s had hard times before and was suicidal before,” he said. “It might make her think about suicide again. You must remember that no matter what she did or did not do, she was 15 years old when all this happened to her.
“She married Isis, she has three children who have all died, and she is in a rather uncomfortable POW camp.
“She can say what her lawyers say in order to get back to the UK, but she also hits back a lot and that will definitely have a psychological impact on her.”