POLL: is the Supreme Court right to refuse Shamima Begum’s bid to return to the UK for trial?
Shamima Begum: she won’t be allowed to return to the UK and fight for her citizenship.
The Supreme Court has ruled that Shamima Begum should not be allowed to return to the UK to fight for her citizenship to be restored.
Its members unanimously overruled a decision by the Court of Appeal that said she would not be able to make an effective appeal from the camp in northern Syria where she is currently living.
The Home Office had appealed against the decision on the grounds that allowing her to return would create “significant national security risks”.
The Supreme Court agreed:
Lord Reed said: “The Supreme Court unanimously allows all of the home secretary’s appeals and dismisses Ms Begum’s cross-appeal.”
He said the Court of Appeal’s judgment “did not give the home secretary’s assessment the respect which it should have received” given the role’s “responsibility for making such assessments” and accountability to parliament.
Lord Reed added the Court of Appeal had “mistakenly believed that, when an individual’s right to have a fair hearing… came into conflict with the requirements of national security, her right to a fair hearing must prevail.”
He said the right to a fair hearing did “not trump all other considerations, such as the safety of the public”.
Ms Begum has proved extremely divisive among some members of the UK community.
She was enticed abroad to join Islamic State, aged just 15, and married a Dutch IS fighter – with whom she had three children. They have all died.
After IS largely collapsed, she found herself in a refugee camp and appealed for the UK’s government to return her to this country, so she could rely on the National Health Service to care for her and her last child, before that child died.
But then-Home Secretary Sajid Javid instead stripped her of her UK citizenship, citing the by-then-20-year-old’s still-apparent enthusiasm for the bloodthirsty regime she fled the country to join.
Some said she had been groomed and did not know what she was doing; some said she knew exactly what she was about.
The Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC), a semi-secret court that hears national security cases, ruled that Mr Javid was right and Ms Begum could appeal for citizenship to Bangladesh, to which she may have a claim to nationality through her mother.
The Court of Appeal overruled that judgement and now the Supreme Court has reversed that decision.
Some are now saying that Ms Begum is now in legal limbo. She isn’t – she can still make her appeal from Syria, using lawyers in the UK.
But is that a reasonable course of action? Let’s have a poll:
[polldaddy poll=10757275]Source: Shamima Begum cannot return to UK, Supreme Court rules – BBC News
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Fascist tories are punishing Shamima Begum because she was indoctrinated by ISIS and yet numerous male ISIS British nationals have been allowed to return to the UK!! Where’s the justice in this scandal????
Furthermore those male terrorists were adults whereas Ms. Begum was legally a child when she left the UK but who cares she is just a convenient tool the fascist tories are using to legitimise their demonisation of a female child!
‘However, where Britons have managed to returned home from Syria or Iraq they have not been put in jail. About half the 850 Britons who left the UK to join Isis have already returned, and many are only subject to limited monitoring because their number is far beyond intelligence agencies intensive surveillance capability.’
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/06/thirty-britons-believed-to-be-among-isis-fighters-held-in-syria
I suspect the members of the Supreme Court have been ‘nobbled’ by little fascist dictator dick johnson and his crooked cronies!
This goes beyond security risk or guilt on any crimes she may or may not have committed. She has been made stateless, something specifically prohibited by the UN after WW2 where many were in the same position and the same ‘security risk’ argument could easily have been argued. We agreed with this point back then.
If you are a UK citizen no have the right to entry (re-entry) to the UK providing you are able ie not serving a prison sentence elsewhere.
The Home Secretary wishes to depend on ‘Security Risks’ in order to break the law, his remedy to security risks is clear, she can be arrested and charged then subsequently detained until trial or monitored until trial at the discretion of the justiciary. The Home Secretary is confident in his view of Begum and should be confident in this evidence enough to have the courage to have her put before the courts here. The problem is that I think he doesn’t have that confidence.
In the meantime Begum is in limbo and unable to properly make a case from where she is (regardless of what is said) The court’s unanimous view that the Home Secretary’s view should be given ‘more respect’ than the right of the accused’s right to a fair hearing is wrong. The Home Secretary didn’t, to my knowledge, present the evidence being used against Begum and, in any event, this would be irrelevant. She is one woman who can be transported from her location to a British prison directly. Essentially the argument is that she is SO dangerous the UK can’t handle her and THAT justifies breaking international law by making her stateless.
Knowing her case and/or being in any way sympathetic to her is unnecessary. This is a matter of law..
One small point: the Home Secretary, now, is Priti Patel, who is female.
One small pint the UK government didn’t make her stateless she did. She willingly renounced her UK passport. As far as I know she had also Pakistan passport and they removed that NOT the UK government so again not our fault now her dream of this caliphate is in taters .
She now comes crying back and all these do gooders go let her back she is no threat ignoring what she might have done, or be a ticking time bomb and a threat to other UK citizens. So enought of the evil UK government is responsible BS they just denied her to allow her citizenship back after she renounced it that’s very different from what you are claiming.
I have no respect for the Tory scum but let’s be honest here. She decided she didn’t want to be a UK subject rather a willing member of this Terrorist caliphate and still has those same views. If you want to trust her that’s fine, I choose not to.
So the right minded people of this country who did not run off to Syria to behead people have got a good result. Isis and there followers are Terrorists who should be hung or shot when caught.
You write like an unhinged terrorist yourself, David.
Play the ball, not the man!
While I personally tend not to disagree with your opinion about the former commenter’s writing, be careful not to allow your comment to be an attack on that person himself. Attack his opinions by all means.
This woman turned her back on the UK and when her dream of a nutball caliphate didn’t work oh she wants back to what set up a nice terrorist cell?
No, her beliefs haven’t changed she has just got more cunning and these do-gooders that support her are being taken for the useful fools they are!
She has appalled and tried multiple times to get back into the UK but sorry this women can’t be trusted. She made her choices and has these warped beliefs that were true then and is now.
The people of this country’s safety whould be compromised allowing her return! Even if watched 24/7 that doesn’t stop people from plotting and carry out terrorism, as we know from sad experience recently.
Being a socialist doesn’t mean you have to believe sob stories or BS. All this she was forced into this and doesn’t have the same views. Oh it’s men’s fault and not her views she didn’t willingly do anything. It’s to easy to say and sorry I don’t believe her if you choose to that’s fine!
BUT will you have the guts to apologize to any victims of terrorism afterwards if your wrong? Or wring your hands while going but she lied to us, it’s not my fault..
Some 400 people have since returned to the UK after joining ISIS. Most with little fanfare, no prosecution and certainly no withdrawal of citizenship
Why are you not concerned about that threat to national security instead of focusing on one stupid young girl who is no threat to anyone?
If she has committed a crime she should be prosecuted here according to the law.
Why is it considered acceptable to leave the Kurds to deal with this problem? She is a British national or at least was when she joined ISIS. That makes her our responsi8bility. It is political cowardice for us to force the Kurds to clean up the mess made by our nationals.
Where did disabledgrandad say he isn’t concerned about the 400 people who have returned? I don’t see him saying that.
As for leaving the Kurds to deal with a British National – the point is that she isn’t one.
Personally I think you are right that the return of 400 people is cause for concern, as would be the return of Ms Begum. I see from the vote that I am in a minority in that respect. That’s democracy.
Groomed online while in the UK and the victim of sexual abuse , she should be brought back to the UK . El Dee in a post earlier clearly explains the UK government illegal decision , what do you expect from an Islamaphobic , racist , sectarian and hard right wing tory government ?