Shamima Begum, who ran away from her home in London to join ISIS at age 15, is grieving the loss of her baby boy.
The 19-year-old, whose UK citizenship has been revoked, had already lost two children when, on Friday, March 8, her lawyer confirmed on Twitter that her three-week-old son Jarrah had died.
The boy died from pneumonia in the Syrian refugee camp where Begum has been living since she fled from ISIS. Because he was born before the teen’s citizenship was revoked, he was considered a British citizen.
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The lawyer of Begum’s family, Mohammed Akunjee, has released a letter on behalf of Shamima’s mother urging the UK government to reinstate her citizenship and allow her to come home.
This is the latest tragedy in a string of unfortunate events for the teen, which all began when she and a friend hopped on a plane to Turkey in 2015.
It was the first leg of their journey to Syria, where they would join the Islamic State (ISIS).
Just 10 days after arriving, Begum married 27-year-old Dutch man Yago Riedijk who had converted to Islam.
According to The Times, the pair had two other children, a boy and a girl, both of which died due to malnutrition and illness.
Their deaths prompted her to want to flee Syria so she and her husband escaped the final ISIS stronghold in Baghuz, eastern Syria earlier this year.
Her husband was forced to surrender to Syrian fighters, but Begum made it to a refugee camp where she is now living with 39,000 other people.
She wants to leave Syria. She wants to go home – to the UK.
But the British government is not willing to take her back and last month delivered a letter to Begum’s family that said Begum would be stripped of her British citizenship.
Speaking to ITV News in February, Begum insisted she was no threat to the UK, despite expressing no regret for joining ISIS.
She still hopes to be reunited with her jihadi husband, has said the Manchester Arena bombing was "a fair justification" for air raids on ISIS in Syria and claimed to be unfazed the first time she saw a "severed head in a bin".
She claimed her role had been only a "housewife" and denied any involvement in crimes or recruitment.
After learning her citizenship would be stripped, Begum told ITV News it was "hard to swallow".
"It’s a bit upsetting and frustrating. I feel like it’s a bit unjust on me and my son."
She said she would like Home Secretary Sajid Javid to "review my case again and have a bit more sympathy for me and understanding, and you know, maybe give me a reason why they see me as a threat to the UK."
In a statement on Twitter, the lawyer of Begum's family said they were disappointed with the British Home Office's intention to "deprive" Begum of her citizenship and were considering a legal challenge.
The Home Office believed she had dual citizenship with Bangladesh through heritage, but the Bangladesh government has denied this.
Begum said she could apply for citizenship in The Netherlands, where her husband is from.
"If he gets sent back to prison in Holland I can just wait for him while he is in prison."
Top Comments
I have no sympathy for her, but she is the UK’s problem to deal with. I never thought I’d agree with Trump, but western countries have to take back their own war criminals, there’s no reason the poor Syrians who had to bear the brunt of ISIS should end up with them. Nor should Bangladesh, even if she has a ‘claim’ to citizenship there. She’s British born and bred and they failed to stop her being radicalised and going there. Put her in jail or parole for the rest of her life but don’t just make her some other country’s problem!
The phrase "she's made her bed" comes to mind...