19-year-old Shamima Begum was only 15 when she and other two girls from Bethnal Green went to Syria and became a jihadi bride by tying the knot with an IS fighter.
Now 19, she has chosen to flee the group’s last stand for her unborn baby. Two of their children passed away before the age of 1 because of malnutrition.
Begum said she didn’t regret her decision and just wants to go back to Britain. But the ISIS bride was shocked when she found out she has been stripped of her UK citizenship.
The teen said she is now ready to beg Holland for citizenship as she is married to a Dutch jihadi. Her captured husband Yago Riedijk was sent back to the Netherlands where he faces 6 years in prison for joining ISIS.
Home Secretary Sajid David said her baby can still be British.
The 19-year-old said she and their baby Jerah would consider moving to Holland. They would ‘wait for him’ while he’s in the notorious terror wing of Rotterdam’s De Schie prison.
In an interview, Begum said: ‘Maybe I can ask for citizenship in Holland. If he gets sent back to prison in Holland I can just wait for him while he is in prison.’
Experts said the couple’s newborn son has the right to a UK passport, which could help his mother go back to the UK on human rights ground.
Asif Salam, a lawyer who runs an immigration firm, said: ‘Because of the child, the mother could by default get back her nationality or get a limited leave to remain – to be able to live with her child in the UK.’
Home Secretary Sajid Javid also confirmed: ‘If a parent does lose their British citizenship it does not affect the rights of their child.’
Begum told ITV News she didn’t understand why the Home Secretary see her as a threat. She said: ”I’m a 19-year-old girl with a new born baby. I don’t have any weapons; I don’t want to hurt anyone even if I did have weapons or anything.’
Around 430 suspected jihadi fighters are thought to have come back to the UK from Syria.
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