Shamima Begum, 19, left Britain to join Daesh but ended up back in UK with a newborn baby. Now she wants to return to normal life but her citizenship has been revoked. Does a teenage deserve such a harsh punishment?
- Britain has revoked a brown British citizen of their citizenship’
- Her name is Shamima Begum, she is 19, and stateless
- British Home Secretary Sajid Javid is responsible for this move
- Shamima was 15 when she left Britain with two other Muslim girls
- to travel to Syria and join ISIS
- He said there is no denying the severe consequences
- of her decision to join Daesh
- But should a teenager’s decisions be penalised this harshly?
- Does Britain not have a duty of care towards their citizens?
- After all, it was inside Britain that Shamima was radicalised
- Some say that the large number of returnees like Shamima
- indicate that Britain needs to build a reintegration program
- Denmark has such a program and it’s working well
- Today, Shamima has a one-week-old son
- and lives in a refugee camp in Syria
- The baby’s biological father is a former ISIS fighter
- Even if Shamima is no longer British,
- the new born baby certainly has citizenship
- But what kind of life would he have without his mother?
- Some say mother and child should ask Bangladesh for citizenship
- Shamima’s parents are originally from Bangladesh
- But Bangladesh has unequivocally stated they will not take her in
- Do you think Shamima should be allowed back in the UK?
- Or should she be punished by having no state for the rest of her life?