What's going to happen next to Isis jihadi bride Shamima Begum?

What happened?

Shamima Begum, the British teenager who fled to Syria four years ago to join Isis and who now wants to return to the UK, could be arrested at the British border. According to the head of the Metropolitan Police, Cressida Dick, Ms Begum can expect to be ‘spoken to’ and possibly brought into custody if she comes back to Britain. The 19-year-old jihadi bride, who has just given birth, was tracked down to a refugee camp in Syria last week..

What’s going to happen to her now?

Shamima Begum wants to return to the UK with her infant son. However it is anything but clear whether she will be able – or allowed – to do so. She is currently living in Kurdish custody at the al-Hawl camp refugee camp in Northern Syria and is assumed to no longer have her passport. In order to leave the country, she would need to be smuggled into Turkey along an extremely dangerous route. UK security minister Ben Wallace has said he will not risk British lives by sending a team to rescue her, giving her no obvious route out of the country with her child.

There is also a question mark over whether she will be blocked from returning to Britain. Home Secretary Sajid Javid said he would ‘would not hesitate’ from blocking Brits who leave to join Isis from returning to the UK. However it is becoming clear Mr Javid does not have the power to stop Ms Begum, who is a British citizen, from coming back. He does not have the power to revoke her citizenship as to do so would make her stateless, which is illegal under international law.

Mr Javid has however made it clear that Ms Begum could expect an investigation and possible jail term is she does make it back to the UK. Her family’s lawyer, Tasnime Akunjee, said he anticipated she would face criminal proceedings upon any return to the UK, but that it was the family’s hope she would be given professional help following her experience in Syria.

Shamima’s own lawyer condemns her Manchester bombing comments (Evening Standard)
Met Police commissioner warns Begum could be arrested at UK border (Yahoo News UK)
Isis bride suggests she is prepared to go to prison if Britain allows her back (The Telegraph)

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