"ISIS Bride" Loses Her British Citizenship

The London Court of Appeal rejected an appeal from a British-born woman regarding the decision to revoke her British citizenship after she traveled to Syria as a student to join ISIS. The British government stripped Shamima Begum, known as the "ISIS Bride," of her citizenship on national security grounds in 2019, shortly after she was found in a detention camp in Syria. Begum, now 24 years old, claimed the decision was unlawful, partly due to British officials' failure to properly consider whether she was a victim of human trafficking, a argument rejected by a lower court in February 2023. The London Court of Appeal dismissed the young woman's appeal, which she had filed last October. Judge Sue Carr stated, "It can be said that the decision in Ms. Begum's case was harsh. It can also be said that Ms. Begum is the cause of her misfortune.” She added, “But it is not within this court's jurisdiction to agree or disagree with either viewpoint. Our only task is to assess whether the deprivation decision was unlawful… and we concluded that it was not, and the appeal was dismissed."