At the age of 15, the ex-student from East London departed the United Kingdom and went to Syria, allegedly under the supervision of the Islamic State. She lost her British citizenship, but according to her attorneys, she was the victim of human trafficking.
She left her east London school in 2015 to fly to Syria and join the Islamic State when she was fifteen years old. Her citizenship was withdrawn for national security reasons not long after she was discovered in a camp for refugees in 2019.
Ms. Begum, 24, lost her most recent challenge at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) in February of last year following a string of court fights. Nevertheless, she appealed her case to the Court of Appeal in October.
Samantha Knights KC argued on behalf of Ms. Begum, who is still living in a camp for refugees in northern Syria, that the government had neglected to take into account its legal obligations to a possible victim of human trafficking.
National security, according to Sir James Eadie KC of the Home Office, is the “key feature” of Ms. Begum’s case.
A brief hearing is scheduled for this Friday at 10 a.m. to deliver the decision in Ms. Begum’s Court of Appeal case.
