UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has pledged to vigorously defend the government’s contentious decision to revoke the citizenship of Shamima Begum, who traveled to Syria as a teenager to join the Islamic State. This declaration comes in response to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) raising critical questions about whether British authorities adequately considered if Begum was a victim of trafficking before stripping her citizenship.
The government source confirmed Mahmood’s position, stating the Home Secretary would ‘robustly defend’ the 2019 decision made by then-Home Secretary Sajid Javid, which has been repeatedly upheld in UK domestic courts. The source emphasized that national security remains the government’s paramount concern in this case.
The ECHR’s intervention marks a significant development in the long-running legal saga, with the Strasbourg court questioning whether the UK violated its anti-trafficking obligations under Article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The court specifically inquired whether ministers properly assessed if Begum was trafficked before revoking her citizenship on national security grounds.
Begum’s legal representatives from Birnberg Peirce described the ECHR’s involvement as an ‘unprecedented opportunity’ to examine whether previous administrations overlooked crucial trafficking considerations. Lawyer Gareth Peirce argued that Begum, then 15, was clearly ‘lured, encouraged and deceived for purposes of sexual exploitation’ and that authorities failed to implement proper safeguarding measures despite clear warning signs.
The case has sparked broader debates about the UK’s expanding use of citizenship-stripping powers and its counter-terrorism policies. Last year, Declan Morgan, former Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, publicly stated that Britain should not have revoked Begum’s citizenship, adding weight to criticisms of the government’s approach.
Begum remains detained in a Syrian prison camp controlled by Kurdish-led forces while awaiting the ECHR’s final judgment, which will follow submissions from both the UK government and her legal team.