Shamima Begum

Shamima Begum (born 25 August 1999) is a British-born woman who entered Syria to join the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group at the age of 15 and was consequently stripped of UK citizenship.

She lives in al-Roj detention camp in Syria.

Shortly after her departure, Begum's sister expressed hope that she and her school friends had travelled to IS territory only to bring back their friend Sharmeena Begum (no relation), who had travelled there in 2014.

Ten days after arriving in Syria, Begum married Dutch-born Yago Riedijk, a convert to Islam who had arrived in Syria in October 2014.

This marriage may not be recognised under Dutch law since she was underage at that time.

Begum was a high school student at Bethnal Green Academy when she and two schoolmates travelled to Syria in February 2015.

Her journey was facilitated by an IS smuggler who was providing information to Canadian intelligence.

At age 15, Begum married a 23 year old fellow IS member 10 days after her arrival and had three children who all died young.

The Daily Telegraph reported that Begum had developed a reputation as an enforcer amongst other members of IS and had tried to recruit other young women to join the group.

Together with her friends Amira Abase and Kadiza Sultana, she left the UK in February 2015, at age 15.

They travelled via Turkey to join the Islamic State in Syria.

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan said in February 2015 that everyone hoped and prayed for the safe return of the three girls to the UK.

In February 2019, Begum was discovered alive at the al-Hawl refugee camp in Northern Syria by war correspondent Anthony Loyd.

The following day, British Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, revoked her British citizenship.

The British government believed that Begum was a dual citizen and also held Bangladeshi citizenship by descent but this has been contested by the Government of Bangladesh.

Begum received threats from other residents at al-Hawl and was moved for her safety to the al-Roj refugee camp in Syria, where she remained.

Javid stated that Begum would never be allowed to return to the United Kingdom.

She gave birth to three children, all of whom died young; her youngest child was born in a refugee camp in February 2019 and, by March 2019, had died of a lung infection.

The Daily Telegraph reported that Begum had been an "enforcer" in IS's "morality police", and had tried to recruit other young women to join the jihadist group.

The report said that she was allowed to carry a Kalashnikov rifle and earned a reputation as a strict enforcer of IS's laws, such as dress codes for women.

An anti-IS activist was also reported by The Daily Telegraph as saying that there were allegations of Begum stitching suicide bombs into explosive vests so they could not be removed without detonating.

In 2022, investigative journalist Josh Baker retraced her route through Turkey and uncovered a vast ISIS people-smuggling network that facilitated Begum's travel to Syria.

He also received hundreds of pages of secret files on the smuggler that revealed the man at the heart of the network, Mohammed Rashed, was conducting an intelligence operation.

A serving senior intelligence officer confirmed to Baker that Rashed was a Canadian asset.

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau said: "Obviously we know we live in a particularly dangerous world, the fight against terrorism requires our intelligence services to continue to be flexible and to be creative in their approaches but every step of the way they are bound by strict rules, by principles and values that Canadians hold dear… and we expect that those rights be followed. I know there are questions about certain incidents or operations of the past and we will ensure to follow up on those."

Separately published in August 2022, Richard Kerbaj's book The Secret History of the Five Eyes claimed that Mohammed Rashed, who helped her travel to Syria, was passing information to Canadian intelligence, which was known to the Metropolitan Police.

This link was not acknowledged by British or Canadian authorities.

The Canadian intelligence was using Rashed for information on the Islamic State, allowing him to help people to travel to Syria to work for the Islamic State.

Kerbaj said that he interviewed many Canadian intelligence officers, who confirmed the timeline of events.

In February 2019, The Times' war correspondent Anthony Loyd found Begum at the al-Hawl refugee camp in Northern Syria.

She was pregnant with her third child and said that she wanted to return to the UK to raise them, but did not regret her decision to join IS.

Begum said she had been unfazed by seeing the head of a beheaded man as he was "an enemy of Islam", but believed that IS did not deserve victory because of their corruption and oppression.

When asked if she would be extracted from Syria, Security Minister Ben Wallace said, "I'm not putting at risk British people's lives to go and look for terrorists or former terrorists in a failed state."

In July 2020, the Court of Appeal ruled that Begum should be permitted to return to the UK in order to fairly contest the Home Secretary’s decision by instructing lawyers properly.

This ruling was appealed to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom which, on 26 February 2021, ruled unanimously against her, reversing the decision of the Court of Appeal and preventing her return.

In February 2020, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission further ruled that Javid's decision to revoke Begum's British citizenship had been lawful, on grounds of national security.

Begum also appealed this decision.

In February 2024, the Court of Appeal unanimously dismissed the appeal.

Begum was born in London to immigrant parents of Bangladeshi origin and citizenship.

She was raised as a Muslim in the Bethnal Green area of Tower Hamlets in East London, where she received her secondary education at the Bethnal Green Academy.