{"id":664451,"date":"2025-12-31T10:11:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T10:11:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/664451\/"},"modified":"2025-12-31T10:11:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T10:11:16","slug":"shamima-begum-given-renewed-hope-of-returning-to-britain-as-european-judges-challenge-government-on-decision-to-strip-isis-bride-of-citizenship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/664451\/","title":{"rendered":"Shamima Begum given renewed hope of returning to Britain as European judges challenge government on decision to strip ISIS bride of citizenship"},"content":{"rendered":"

By MARK DUELL, SENIOR REPORTER<\/a> <\/p>\n

Published: 04:39 EST, 31 December 2025 | Updated: 04:48 EST, 31 December 2025 <\/p>\n

Shamima Begum<\/a> has fresh hope today in her bid to return to Britain after European judges told the UK to justify its stance to strip the ISIS<\/a> bride of her UK citizenship.<\/p>\n

The European Court of Human Rights has formally asked the Home Office<\/a>\u00a0whether it broke human rights and anti-trafficking laws \u2013 which is Begum’s main legal argument.<\/p>\n

Lawyers for the former London<\/a> schoolgirl hailed the request as an ‘unprecedented opportunity’ because it could unlock a new battle between the UK and Strasbourg.<\/p>\n

Begum, who lived in Bethnal Green, was found in a Syrian refugee camp in 2019 after her travel to ISIS-controlled territory in the country as a 15-year-old in 2015.<\/p>\n

Her UK citizenship was immediately revoked by then-home secretary Sajid Javid<\/a> on national security grounds, kickstarting a lengthy legal challenge by Begum.<\/p>\n

She lost an appeal in February 2023 against the decision to revoke her citizenship after the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) ruled this was lawful.<\/p>\n

Begum then lost a Court of Appeal bid in February 2024, before she was most recently denied the chance to challenge it at the Supreme Court in August 2024.<\/p>\n

However, Begum’s lawyers warned at the time that they could still take her case to the European Court of Human Rights – which they later did.<\/p>\n

\"Shamima <\/p>\n

Shamima Begum, who lived in Bethnal Green, was found in a Syrian refugee camp in 2019<\/p>\n

\"Begum <\/p>\n

Begum is still living at the al-Roj camp in Hasakah province in northern Syria (pictured in 2021)<\/p>\n

Now, the revelation in the Daily Express<\/a> today of formal communication between the UK and Strasbourg has prompted fears that Begum could eventually return to Britain.<\/p>\n

Shamima Begum: From fleeing to Syria to UK citizenship legal battle\u00a0 <\/p>\n

February 2015: Shamima Begum leaves Britain to travel to Istanbul, before heading onto Syria with Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase<\/p>\n

February 2019: Begum is tracked down to the al-Hawl refugee camp in northern Syria and says she wants to return to Britain. The Home Office revokes her UK citizenship.<\/p>\n

October 2019: Begum begins an appeal against the revocation of her citizenship<\/p>\n

February 2020: Begum loses the first stage of a legal challenge at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC)<\/p>\n

July 2020: The Court of Appeal rules Begum should be allowed to return to the UK to challenge the deprivation of her citizenship<\/p>\n

February 2021: The Supreme Court rules Begum should not be allowed to return to the UK to pursue an appeal<\/p>\n

February 2023: Begum loses her legal challenge at SIAC<\/p>\n

February 2024: Begum loses her challenge at the Court of Appeal<\/p>\n

August 2024: Begum is told she cannot challenge the removal of her citizenship at the Supreme Court<\/p>\n

December 2025: The European Court of Human Rights formally asks the Home Office to justify its stance<\/p>\n

<!- – ad: https:\/\/mads.dailymail.co.uk\/v8\/us\/news\/none\/article\/other\/mpu_factbox.html?id=mpu_factbox_1 – -><\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

But shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick tweeted: ‘Shamima Begum should never step foot on British soil again.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘We can’t let a foreign court meddle in our national security.’<\/p>\n

Former security minister Sir Ben Wallace, who was involved in the Home Office citizenship deprivation case, told the Express: ‘She went of her own free will to support a cause that doesn’t believe in any Western court.<\/p>\n

‘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.<\/p>\n

‘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. She wanted to go there. She can stay there.’<\/p>\n

Begum is still living at the al-Roj camp in northern Syria as her representatives at London-based Birnberg Peirce Solicitors continue to fight her case.<\/p>\n

The Home Office has now been told by the European court to answer four questions about her citizenship.<\/p>\n

One asks: ‘Has there been a violation of the applicant’s rights under Article 4 of the Convention by virtue of the decision to deprive her of her citizenship?’<\/p>\n

Another says: ‘For the purposes of the Article 4 complaints made in the application, was the applicant at all material times within the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom, within the meaning of Article 1 of the Convention?’<\/p>\n

Article 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights relates to ‘protection of property’, while Article 4 relates to ‘freedom from slavery and forced labour’.<\/p>\n

A further question asks: ‘Did the Secretary of State for the Home Department’s decision to deprive the applicant of her citizenship engage her rights under Article 4 of the Convention?’<\/p>\n

A Home Office spokeswoman told the Daily Mail: ‘The Government will always protect the UK and its citizens.<\/p>\n

‘That is why Shamima Begum – who posed a national security threat – had her British citizenship revoked and is unable to return to the UK.<\/p>\n

\"Shamima <\/p>\n

Shamima Begum had her British citizenship revoked in 2019 and cannot return to the UK<\/p>\n

\"Shamima <\/p>\n

Shamima Begum passes through barriers at Gatwick Airport in 2015 before fleeing to Syria<\/p>\n

‘We will robustly defend any decision made to protect our national security.’<\/p>\n

In October, the Government announced that extremists stripped of their British citizenship would no longer be able to regain their status after a successful first appeal as a new law came into force.<\/p>\n

Beforehand, a person who the Government considered a threat to national security could have been released from immigration detention or returned to the UK while further appeals to stop them were ongoing.<\/p>\n

But the new law closed this loophole so that citizenship cannot be regranted until all appeal proceedings have been completed.<\/p>\n

Between 2018 and 2023, an average of 12 people a year were deprived of their citizenship on the grounds it was ‘conducive to the public good’.<\/p>\n

This decision is made by the home secretary in serious cases where it is believed to be in the public interest, for reasons such as terrorism or serious organised crime.<\/p>\n

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