Shamima Begum's story has stirred controversy ever since she and two of her friends fled London to join the Islamic State four years ago, when she was 15. Shamima, who now wants to return home with her newborn baby may not be able to do so, even as the so-called caliphate crumbles.
Britain plans to strip Shamima of her citizenship, a lawyer from her family said. The case points to a dilemma facing many European countries, divided over whether to allow jihadists and IS sympathisers home to face prosecution or barring them over security concerns.
Tasnime Akunjee, the attorney said that the family is considering all legal avenues to challenge the decision and they were “very disappointed with the Home Office's intention to have an order made depriving Shamima of her citizenship."
The Home Office has sent a letter to Begum's mother, received Tuesday, notifying the family of the decision which it said the teen had the right to appeal.
Shamima who is of Bangladeshi heritage, does have a claim to citizenship in Britain according to the Home Office. Shamima is currently in a refugee camp in northeast Syria where she fled to escape fighting in the east of the country along with hundreds of other people with links to IS.
"In order to protect this country, (the home secretary) has the power to deprive someone of their British citizenship where it would not render them stateless," the Home Office said, adding it would not comment on individual cases.
Shamima gave birth to a baby over the weekend, which would be her third child. She had given birth to two children after getting married in Syria, but both the babies died from illness and malnutrition.
She appealed to British authorities to show "compassion" by allowing her to raise the baby in Britain — while expressing no regret over having joined IS.
"I'm afraid he might even die in this camp," Begum said of her newborn. "I feel a lot of people should have sympathy for me, for everything I've been through," she said, adding that "I didn't know what I was getting into when I left".
European countries have been grappling with what to do with foreign fighters detained in Syria by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, who have warned they may not be able to guard their jails once US troops leave.
Trump had called on Britain, France, Germany and other European allies "to take back over 800 IS fighters that we captured in Syria and put them on trial".
Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman said the fighters should instead face justice in places where they committed their crimes.
