Shamima Begum

Shamima Begum (born 25 August 1999) is a British-born woman who entered Syria to join the Islamic State at the age of 15. As of 2024, she is living in al-Roj detention camp in Syria.

While enrolled at Bethnal Green Academy, Begum and two schoolmates travelled to Syria in February 2015. The journey was facilitated by an IS smuggler who was providing information to Canadian intelligence. Ten days after her arrival, Begum married a 23-year-old fellow IS member; the marriage produced three children, who all died young.

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, stating that Begum would never be allowed to return to the United Kingdom. Begum initiated legal proceedings challenging the lawfulness of this decision. British courts ruled that Javid's decision had been lawful, with the Supreme Court refusing Begum's final attempt for permission to appeal on 7 August 2024. At the present time, Begum can launch no further legal challenge within the British legal system, but has, through her lawyers, intimated an intention to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights. Provided by Wikipedia