Shabana Mahmood has vowed to fight European judges over Shamima Begum’s bid to return to the UK.
The jihadi bride’s hopes of leaving Syria were revived after European judges challenged Britain’s stance in the bombshell case.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has formally told the Home Office to justify its decision to strip the ISIS fanatic of her British citizenship.
But Home Secretary Ms Mahmood insisted the Government would continue to defend its position, insisting every UK court had ruled the move legal.
Facing questions over the controversy on Monday, the Home Secretary said: “The case against Shamima Begum has been litigated by the previous Government all the way to the UK Supreme Court, who did not hear the last appeal on this because all legal questions have been now dealt with.
“We have accepted that position as a Government on this case. That will not change. We will robustly defend this at the European Court of Human Rights. That is the approach this Government is taking and we will defend the position that has already been set out by all of our courts right up to the UK Supreme Court.”
Ms Mahmood was facing questions from Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp in Parliament.
Mr Philp demanded: “Will the Home Secretary confirm that she will use every legal mechanism to prevent the return to the UK of Shamima Begum who chose to support the Daesh regime, which murdered civilians, raped thousands of woman and girls and killed people for being gay.
“More broadly, does she agree that those espousing extremist racist or extremist views or supporting terrorism and who is not a British citizen should be immediately deported from this country. She has these countries. Will she use them?”
Ms Begum’s lawyers branded the move an “unprecedented opportunity” as it paves the way for a fresh clash between the UK and Strasbourg. ECHR judges have asked the Government whether it broke human rights and anti-trafficking laws, Ms Begum’s key legal argument.
The formal “communication” between the ECtHR and Home Office will reignite fears Begum could eventually be allowed to travel back to the UK. It signals that Strasbourg believes Ms Begum’s human rights may have been breached. Many cases submitted to the court are thrown out before they reach this stage.
Begum was born and raised in Bethnal Green, east London, before travelling to Syria aged 15 with two other school friends to join IS in 2015.
She later became a child bride to Dutch Islamic convert Yago Riedijk, with whom she had three children who all died as infants.
In 2019, the then home secretary Sajid Javid stripped her of British citizenship on the basis that she could also claim citizenship in Bangladesh so would not be stateless – a decision later upheld by the UK’s Supreme Court.
Now 26, Begum is still living in the al-Roj camp, which is home to thousands of former jihadis, after losing all of her appeals in the UK. The court’s final rulings are technically binding, but there is no enforcement mechanism.
The UK could defy Strasbourg, as Lord Cameron did over a ruling on prisoners’ voting rights until he compromised by allowing offenders on licence to vote. It is not clear whether the Government would defy a final judgment.
