"In 2019, Sajid Javid, then home secretary, stripped the Londoner of her UK citizenship on the grounds that she was a security threat, having travelled as a schoolgirl with two friends to territory controlled by Islamic State (IS) in Syria. At the time, 76% of people backed the move. Fast-forward to November 2025, and an equivalent poll found two-thirds of people thought Begum should not be allowed back to the UK."
"In policy terms, therefore, responding to the European court of human rights' intervention in the matter should be a no-brainer for the Home Office. This week, media briefings suggested Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, would robustly push back against the court after it questioned whether the UK should have considered if Begum who left the country aged 15 had been trafficked before it left her stateless in a Syrian camp. It is not, however, a subject that ministers can simply ignore, for two reasons"
Public opinion remains overwhelmingly opposed to allowing Shamima Begum back into the UK, with polls in 2019 and 2025 showing roughly two-thirds to three-quarters against repatriation. In 2019 the home secretary revoked her citizenship on security grounds after she travelled to Islamic State-controlled territory as a schoolgirl. The European Court of Human Rights questioned whether the UK considered if she had been trafficked before leaving her stateless in a Syrian camp. A legal commission reported that 55–72 Britons, including about 30–40 children, remain in those camps in inhuman and dangerous conditions, and other countries have begun repatriations. Ministers face legal and moral pressure to act.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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