23 February 2024 , 10:24
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Ex-ISIS member Shamima Begum was accused of throwing a publicity stunt after changing her appearance and style.
The jihadi bride was stripped of her British citizenship five years ago after leaving the UK when she was a 15-year-old schoolgirl to join Islamic State (ISIS). Today, she lost a Court of Appeal challenge over the removal of citizenship, after a long battle.
The ruling means she remains in Syria with no chance of returning to the UK.
When she was first found by a British journalist in a refugee camp in 2019, Begum wore a traditional Islamic hijab and covered her head. But two years later, the ex-ISIS member appeared almost unrecognisable in Syria, dressed in casual Western clothes, styled hair and chunky sunglasses. Her transformation came after the Supreme Court first overturned her permission to return to the UK in 2021, because they ruled national security fears outweighed her right to an effective hearing.
She stopped wearing a hijab and traditional Islamic clothing after being banned from entering the UK (Sky)In 2015, school pupil Begum left east London with her close friends at Bethnal Green Academy, Kadiza Sultana, 16, and Amira Abase, 15, to travel to Istanbul, Turkey, to join the terrorist group. She ignored her family's warnings that Syria was a "dangerous place" and married notorious IS member, Dutch-born Yago Riedijk, who was 27.
ISIS bride Shamima Begum on how 'dream' became nightmare when she joined group
Begum had three children with Riedijk, who all later died, before the couple split up. She claimed he was arrested for spying and tortured. In 2019, the Government was alerted to the fact that she was still alive. Begum's British citizenship was then stripped and she was banned from entering Britain as she was deemed a threat to the nation.
At the time, her mother urged the government to reconsider the decision to revoke her citizenship.
A letter to the Home Office from the family's lawyer - written on behalf of Asma Begum - asked the Home Office to do so as "an act of mercy" following the loss of her children.
Previously, her sister Renu Begum said the family made every "fathomable effort" to stop Shamima Begum from joining ISIS.
"That year we lost Shamima to a murderous and misogynistic cult," she told the Home Secretary in a letter.
"My sister has been in their thrall now for four years, and it is clear to me that her exploitation at their hands has fundamentally damaged her."
In 2020, the Court of Appeal permitted her to return to the UK to appeal her revoked citizenship. But the following year, it was overturned. In 2021, Begum agreed to be photographed at a detention camp in Syria and was pictured with a drastically different look, denying her Western makeover was a publicity stunt.
"I have not been wearing hijab for maybe more than a year now. I took it off for myself, because I felt very constricted in the hijab, I felt like I was not myself," she said. "And I feel like it makes me happy, to not wear the hijab. I'm not doing it for anyone but myself. I've had many opportunities to let people take pictures of me without my hijab on, but I did not."
Begum photographed at Roj Camp in 2021 with sunglasses and Western-style clothes (Getty Images)In February 2023, filmmaker Andrew Drury, who visited her in Syria several times, spoke about Begum's physical transformation. He said her casual clothes were purchased from a camp shop that sells fake designer goods and also given to her by broadcasters wanting to interview her.
Mr Drury explained Begum relied on her friend, Hoda Muthana - an American who fled Alabama to join ISIS in 2014 - for fashion advice. He also noticed she would spend "20 or 30 minutes doing herself up before interviews".
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The journalist believed her change in appearance wasn't solely for publicity, but that she also feels more comfortable in Western-style clothes. He told MailOnline: "It's a bit of both, a bit to Westernise herself, but also because she feels comfortable in them."
Last February, Begum lost a challenge against the decision. The judge, Mr Justice Jay, found that there was a "credible suspicion" she was a victim of trafficking, but the Home Secretary was not formally required to consider this when he removed her citizenship. Then in October 2023, Begum appealed against the decision once more.
At the time, The Guardian reported that Begum was in Kurdish custody in north-east Syria and she regretted her decision to run away. The publication said she would "rather die than go back to IS" and would be willing to face terror charges in British court if necessary.