London: Her story rocked Britain when she and two other teenage girls sold jewels they stole from their families to fund a trip to Syria via Turkey to join Islamic State.
But now, 19-year-old Shamima Begum, who is nine months pregnant and no longer in the terror group's dwindling territory, just wants to come home.
In 2015, Amira Abase, Kadiza Sultana and Shamima Begum (right) flew out of Gatwick airport together to join Islamic State.Credit:London Metropolitan Police
The case has divided Britain this week and prompted one prominent politician to renew his campaign for Britain to mimic Australia's tougher counter-terrorism laws.'
Britain's Home Secretary Sajid Javid has vowed to prevent Begum's return but the country's intelligence chief said dozens of ISIS brides have the right to return home.
“Shamima’s child who will also be British has every right as a total innocent to have the chance to grow up in the peace and security of this home,” her family was quoted by ITV as saying on Friday.
Shamima Begum (right), who fled with her two friends, is nine months pregnant and wants to come home, she told a newspaper that tracked her down. Credit:AP
"We welcome an investigation in[to] what she did while she was there under the principles of British justice and would request the British government assist us in returning Shamima and her child to the UK as a matter of urgency," the family said.
"As a British citizen, Shamima has every expectation to be returned to the UK and be dealt with under the British justice system."
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, the head of intelligence agency MI6, Alex Younger, said Begum and dozens of jihadi brides had the right to return.
"British nationals have a right to come to the UK," he said.
However, Javid earlier vowed to block her return.
"We must remember that those who left Britain to join Daesh were full of hate for our country,” he told The Times.
"My message is clear – if you have supported terrorist organisations abroad I will not hesitate to prevent your return. If you do manage to return you should be ready to be questioned, investigated and potentially prosecuted."
But John Woodcock, a member of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee said it was possible Begum would face no prosecution at all because, unlike Australia, which made travelling to "proscribed areas" like Raqqa province in Syria a criminal offence, Britain had only just introduced equivalent laws and did not make them retrospective.
"Would-be jihadi returnees like Shamima Begum highlight the inadequacy of Britain’s counter-terror laws and why the government should not have refused calls to make its new Australian-style proscribed areas law retrospective," Woodcock told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
British Home Secretary Sajid Javid has vowed not to let Begum return home. Credit:AP
“It is good to get this terror travel ban on the statute book for future but without retrospection for foreign fighters returning from the ISIS battlefield, it is bolting the stable door after the horse has bolted.
“There is a clear precedent for applying laws retrospectively on very rare occasions and the emergency created by these returnees, who may import terror back to the UK, surely meets that criteria."
Javid said two possible ways of blocking Begum's return to Britain could involve depriving her of citizenship or excluding her from the UK.
But, as the example of the Australian government's attempts to strip captured ISIS recruiter Neil Prakash of his citizenship showed, this path could be fraught with danger because governments cannot render a citizen stateless.
In Prakash's case, the Australian government claimed he was a Fijian citizen, which was rejected by Fiji. In Begum's case, it is reported she may be eligible for Dutch citizenship.
Begum's family in London feared she was dead and only learnt she was alive via the Times reporting. The teenager confirmed that one of her friends she fled with, Kadiza Sultana, was killed in Raqqa in a bombing.
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