Shamima Begum, an east London schoolgirl who travelled to Syria in 2015 at the age of 15 to join the Islamic State terrorist group, lost an appeal against the removal of her British citizenship.

Begum’s citizenship was withdrawn due to national security concerns in 2019. She then lost a challenge at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) in February of last year following a string of court fights, but she appealed the decision to the Court of Appeal in October, according to Sky News. 

One of the appeal judges who heard the case, Dame Sue Carr, stated that they accepted the commission's ruling about Begum's citizenship and rejected her appeal.

In February 2015, Begum, who is currently 24 years old, and two other females left London to marry ISIS members in Syria. At the time, the group's internet recruitment campaign had drawn a lot of naive youth to its self-declared caliphate. Begum had three children, all of whom passed away, after marrying a Dutch ISIS fighter, AP reported. 

Soon after her discovery in a Syrian refugee camp in 2019, the authorities revoked her British citizenship, and she has remained there ever since.

Begum may have been “influenced and manipulated by others,” but all three judges rejected her case, saying she had taken a “calculated” decision to join ISIS.

It was stated that Begum's claims that she had been a victim of human trafficking were “the real merits of Ms. Begum's case.” 

Euro News reported that Chief Justice Sue Carr delivered the decision, stating that the court's job was to determine whether the decision to deprive Begum of her British citizenship was legal, and not to determine whether the decision was “harsh” or whether Begum was the “author of her own misfortune.” 

“Since it was not, Ms. Begum’s appeal is dismissed,” the judge went on. 

Begum's attorney hinted that there will be more challenges to come. 

“I think the only thing we can really say for certainty is that we are going to keep fighting,” Daniel Furner, Begum’s solicitor, said outside the Royal Courts of Justice.