Shamima Begum and other women who joined ISIS should be returned to UK, adviser says

Jonathan Hall KC suggests Britain is out of step with western allies in blocking return of women who joined terrorist groups in Syria

Shamima Begum Issue date: Wednesday February 22, 2023. PA

Shamima Begum and other women who joined ISIS should be allowed to return to Britain to face justice, according to the UK's independent reviewer of anti-terror legislation.

Jonathan Hall KC said British women or those who are former citizens should be allowed to return from Syria to mirror the position taken by allies such as the United States.

Ms Begum was only 15 when she fled her home in east London to join up with ISIS fighters in Syria. In 2019, her return was blocked by the government amid claims that her return could pose a security risk to Britain.

Last week, an immigration appeals court upheld a Home Office decision to strip her of her citizenship, despite debate over the legality of such a move.

The Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) found there was a “credible suspicion that Ms Begum was recruited, transferred and then harboured for the purpose of sexual exploitation”.

However, the tribunal said this did not prevent the then-home secretary Sajid Javid from removing her citizenship.

In a speech at King's College London on Monday, Mr Hall said UK authorities were resorting to "extra-legal" measures that are partly driven by public opinion, rather than devising well thought-out policies.

Public anger over western-born terrorists was justified, he said, but he added that prosecution in British courts was preferable to detention in Syrian refugee camps.

Ms Begum — whose case has prompted huge debate — is reportedly one of an estimated 60 British women and children held by Kurdish authorities in Syria who have no means of leaving without the UK government’s co-operation.

“Prosecution can also fulfil the objective of accountability," Mr Hall said. "It is only human to want to see these individuals punished for their choices. That desire for just deserts may be partially assuaged by the knowledge that detention will have been harsh, but all this is extra-legal rather than a basis for policy. The noble and rational goal of accountability is different and requires renewed attention.”

The UK’s “strategic distance” policy of removal of citizenship, limited consular assistance and funding of Kurdish detaining authorities is “at a crossroads”.

Mr Hall acknowledged the concerns about the risk people from Britain joining ISIS could pose but said decisions could come “sooner than expected through US and allied pressure, Turkish military activity, court rulings, or natural disasters such as the recent earthquake”.

In addition, he said gender was also factor when considering the return of some women who have been involved with extremist fighters.

“Compared with men, women are less likely to have travelled for purpose of fighting; are less likely to have played [a] battlefield role; may well have had less autonomy in being able to leave; and now make up majority of those UK-linked individuals detained," he said.

“The status quo does not eliminate risk … plotting in detention may be easier than plotting at home.”

Former Home Secretary Priti Patel argued Ms Begum should not be brought back to the UK.

When asked about the case at a Policy Exchange event in Westminster on Monday afternoon, she said: “It is very difficult and we are an outlier, but we are an outlier for good reason, and those reasons include the threat to our own citizens and the threat to our country.”

Having seen the “security and intelligence behind some of these decisions”, she added: “As much as it may be uncomfortable for some, as long as someone is a threat and an individual is a threat to our country, and a threat to our citizens, I think it’s right that they are not brought back here.

“I just believe that we have to do everything we can to protect our country.”

She also said the implications of bringing someone such as Ms Begum back to the UK and the resources required if that were to happen would be “absolutely phenomenal”.