Shamima Begum could be poised to make an extraordinary return to the UK after EU judges formally laid down a challenge to Britain.
The European Court of Human Rights has formally contacted the Home Office regarding Begum’s citizenship case.
Strasbourg is said to believe her human rights may have been violated – and has demanded Shabana Mahmood’s department justifies its decision to strip the jihadi bride of her British citizenship.
Begum’s lawyers at Birnberg Peirce Solicitors have described the ECHR’s intervention as an “unprecedented opportunity”.
But the move could open the door to a major clash between SW1 and Strasbourg.
ECHR judges have asked the Government whether it broke human rights and anti-trafficking laws.
The Home Office must now respond to four questions about how it handled the removal of Begum’s citizenship.
One question specifically asks whether Article 4 of the Convention was breached when her citizenship was revoked.
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick has strongly opposed any possibility of Begum returning to Britain.
He told the Daily Express: “Under no circumstances should Shamima Begum ever step foot in the UK again. She chose to get into bed with Isis terrorists and must now live with the consequences.”
Shamima Begum could be poised to make an extraordinary return to the UK
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Mr Jenrick also used the case to argue for Britain’s withdrawal from the controversial continental court altogether.
“We don’t need a foreign court in Strasbourg to tell us who can or can’t come into this country,” the top Tory raged.
“This is yet another glaring example of why we must leave the ECtHR and take back control of our borders.”
Ex-Defence Secretary Sir Ben Wallace, who was involved in the Home Office’s citizenship deprivation case during his time as Security Minister, has dismissed any suggestion that Begum was a victim.
He told the Express: “She went of her own free will to support a cause that doesn’t believe in any Western court.”
READ MORE ON SHAMIMA BEGUM:
‘She went of her own free will to support a cause that doesn’t believe in any Western court,’ Sir Ben Wallace said
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Sir Ben continued: “She wasn’t a victim. She knowingly and freely joined ISIS and assisted them in the prosecution of their murderous campaign.
“She deserved to lose her citizenship.”
He then pointed out the apparent irony of jihadi bride Begum invoking a legal system that Isis would seek to destroy.
“The cheek of her going through a court system that she and the other terrorists would fundamentally want to destroy isn’t lost on anybody,” he jabbed.
Begum grew up in Bethnal Green, east London, before travelling to Syria at the age of 15 almost 11 years ago.
She made the journey alongside two school friends to join the Islamic State.
Shamima Begum, pictured in more Western attire, travelled to Syria from London in February 2015
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After arriving, she married Dutch Islamic convert Yago Riedijk.
The couple had three children together, all of whom died in infancy.
Then-Home Secretary Sajid Javid revoked her British citizenship in 2019, based on her eligibility to claim Bangladeshi citizenship, meaning she would not become “stateless”.
The UK Supreme Court later upheld this ruling.
Now 26, Begum remains in the al-Roj camp in Syria, which houses thousands of former jihadis.