A woman who left the United Kingdom to join ISIS at the age of 15 has lost her Court of Appeal challenge over the decision to remove her British citizenship.

Shamima Begum flew to Syria in 2015 with two school friends to join the terror group. While there, she married an ISIS fighter and spent several years living in Raqqa.

Begum then reappeared in al-Hawl, a Syrian refugee camp, in 2019. She made international headlines as an “ISIS bride” after pleading with the UK government to be allowed to return to her home country for the birth of her son.

Then-Home Secretary Sajid Javid removed her British citizenship in February that year, and Begum’s newborn son died in a Syrian refugee camp the following month. She told UK media she had two other children prior to that baby, who also died in Syria during infancy.

    • SturgiesYrFase@lemmy.ml
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      9 months ago

      This also set a bad precedent for anyone with dual citizenship. Yes her situation was a bit…unique. but if they decided next week that being lgbtq is illegal they can start stripping citizenship from dualies and kicking them out.

      • Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        I don’t know about that. That seems like a extreme slippery slope.

        There is a difference where you are joining enemy combatants, ones with active military operations who are shooting at citizens of the home country.

        So the only way the metaphor would be comparable is if the gay armada decides to rise up against a country.

        • Cyclist@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          All I have to add is that when I was fifteen I wasn’t as smart as I thought I was.

          • Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            I was 15 yo too but I absolutely didn’t have the means or resources to flee a country and join another country.

            That’s a LOT of micro decisions there, followed by choosing to stay for years.

        • SturgiesYrFase@lemmy.ml
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          9 months ago

          The LGBTQ bit wasn’t maybe the best metaphor. But the point stands. They’ve done this, and now they can easily do it again, and with less cause.

          • Maalus@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            The law in this wording was here in 1980. Previous laws that allow stripping of citizenship based on security threats have been around for 100 years. Yearly 20 people get this treatment. Yet it hasn’t been a problem, since they don’t have a PR company.