Exclusive: Jihadi bride Shamima Begum's baby is British and could return to the UK, say lawyers
The newborn baby of Shamima Begum is a British citizen and could return to the UK despite the teenage mother losing her citizenship over her support for the terror group Isil, according to lawyers.
Begum, 19, was told yesterday Home Secretary Sajid Javid had decided to strip her of her British citizenship, four years after she fled the UK to join ISIL in Syria and marry a Dutch-born Isil fighter.
As a result, she will be banned from Britain as her return would "not be conducive to the public good", a move that could only be taken because the Home Office claims she has dual British-Bangladesh nationality due to her parents being from Bangladesh.
While her lawyers are now considering appealing the move, The Telegraph can reveal that her baby, provided she can prove it is hers, is a British citizen because it was born at the weekend before she was stripped of her British citizenship on Tuesday.
“The baby was born prior to the deprivation order. The baby would have inherited British citizenship from the mother. The baby is British,” said Fahan Ansari, an immigration lawyer who won an appeal against the Government on behalf of two British-Bangladeshis stripped of their citizenship.
The lawyer continued: "The baby has every right to come back to Britain though you are not going to separate a newborn baby from its mother. In effect, you have barred that baby from coming back to the UK and left it in a warzone."
Government guidance from 2017 states that the Home Secretary has the power to order the deprivation of citizenship if it would be "conducive to the public good", and as long as they are not left without any citizenship.
Her family's lawyer, Tasnime Akunjee, has said that the family were "very disappointed" over the move and that they were "considering all legal avenues to challenge this decision". He says Begum, who was born in Britain, has never had a Bangladeshi passport and is not a dual citizen.
The Home Office’s case is understood to centre on Bangladeshi citizenship law which states that a young person retains the nationality of their parents and therefore their eligibility to citizenship, up to the age of 21 unless they renounce it before then.
A similar immigration case brought by Mr Ansari on behalf of the two British men born to Bangladeshi parents was successful because they were over 21. He said the Home Office was appealing the decision by an immigration tribunal.
"We found that Bangladeshi law was that at 21 you are not a dual national unless you make an active effort to retain it," he said.
"It seems to be the case that the younger you are, the more vulnerable you are to losing your citizenship than a mature adult of 25-26."
The move comes after the teenager returned to the public eye when she was found heavily pregnant living in a refugee camp in northern Syria.
She gave birth to a boy over the weekend, having already lost two children, and made pleas for forgiveness and to be accepted back in the UK.
"I am not that shocked but I am a bit shocked. It's a bit upsetting and frustrating. I feel like it's a bit unjust on me and my son."
Shown a copy of the letter revoking her citizenship, she said: "I heard that other people are being sent back to Britain so I don't know why my case is any different to other people, or is it just because I was on the news four years ago?
"Another option I might try with my family is my husband is from Holland and he has family in Holland.
"Maybe I can ask for citizenship in Holland. If he gets sent back to prison in Holland I can just wait for him while he is in prison."
But despite saying she wanted to bring her her baby son up in the peace and security of the UK, she has insisted she has no regrets about travelling to Syria.
She has also been criticised for likening the deaths of 22 people in the Manchester Arena terror attack to the civilians being bombed in Isil territory.
On Tuesday, the Met Commissioner, Cressida Dick, said Ms Begum could be arrested and potentially charged if she ever returned to the UK.
But she also acknowledged that travelling to Syria was not an offence in itself, and said the police would need evidence that she had been involved in crime or terrorism in order to bring charges.
It comes as a report suggests that many of the girls who have travelled to join Isil are far from vulnerable and naive.
A study by the Henry Jackson Society found evidence that while boys tended to join Isil under the influence of family members, girls were more likely to have sought out extremist material on their own.
Analysis of 20 cases found that Isil brides tended to be self-radicalised and motivated by the prospect of marrying a man of theirchoice.
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