London: The news of “jihadi bride” who joined the so-called Islamic State in Syria and was subsequently stripped of her British citizenship was pictured without a burqa for the first time.
Her plight shed light upon the predicaments of many British Muslims who are now living the life of refugees in de-radicalization camps. The “jihadi bride,” Shamima Begum, was a resident of the Bangladeshi-Muslim dominated area of East London, after she left for Syria. At the age of 15, she and two friends Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase, joined ISIS.
After arriving in the Middle East, she married Yago Riedijik, a Dutch native who had reverted to Islam. He was eight years older than her. Her case is one of the many which has sparked debates regarding the risks and rewards that come with the rehabilitation and reintegration of ‘homegrown’ radicals.
Her husband presently remains in a detention center in northeastern Syria. However, deeming her a security threat due to her sojourn there, former home secretary Sajid Javid revoked her UK citizenship.
Although this hasn’t left her stateless as the Special Immigration Appeals mentioned that she could turn to Bangladesh for citizenship, which is the country of origin of her father. She gave birth to three children who died there. However, Begum has never been to Bangladesh.
Stuck in the no man’s land of the refugee camp, a return to her birthplace seems tenuous at best. Whether the jeans and the nose-stud which she donned with the union jack cushion in the background of the photo below will pave the way back to the only home she has ever known is very uncertain.
That too, with the reported possibility that Sajid Javaid has used Shamima’s case to further his political career, Begum’s plight is one that is a tale of caution to those who are vulnerable to extremist tendencies.