{"id":268625,"date":"2020-08-18T10:30:36","date_gmt":"2020-08-18T14:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/issues\/isil-citizenship\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T23:09:47","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T03:09:47","slug":"isil-citizenship","status":"publish","type":"issues","link":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/08\/isil-citizenship\/","title":{"rendered":"UK must restore ISIL bride Shamima Begum\u2019s citizenship"},"content":{"rendered":"

ISIL bride Shamima Begum, whose British citizenship was revoked in 2019 on national security grounds, can return to the UK<\/a> from Syria to plead her case to restore her citizenship, according to a UK court.\u00a0The Court of Appeal<\/a>\u00a0ruled on July 16 that Begum had been denied a fair hearing because she could not properly defend herself from Syria. The verdict means that the UK government is now required to find a way to coordinate the return of Begum, who is currently being held in Camp Roj<\/a>, a refugee camp in northern Syria.<\/p>\n

This case could set a precedent for Canada and the rest of the Western world.<\/p>\n

At the age of 15, Begum travelled to Syria<\/a>\u00a0to marry a Dutch jihadi<\/a> who had converted to Islam and joined ISIL. After four years with ISIL, Begum, nine months pregnant, revealed her identity to war correspondent Anthony Loyd.\u00a0\u201cI am a sister from London,\u201d she told him<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m a Bethnal Green girl\u2026I\u2019m scared that this baby is going to get sick in this camp\u2026That\u2019s why I really want to get back to Britain, because I know it will get taken care of, health-wise at least.\u201d<\/p>\n

By then, Begum\u2019s two other children had died in ISIL territories, reportedly due to malnutrition. Loyd\u2019s story appeared on the front page of The<\/em> Times<\/em><\/a> and created a social media storm.<\/p>\n

In under a week, the UK government\u00a0stripped Begum of her citizenship<\/a>. While the Geneva Conventions prohibit making citizens stateless, the government justified taking away citizenship<\/a> by pointing out that Begum\u2019s mother is Bangladeshi, which means Begum might be eligible for Bangladeshi citizenship. However, in\u00a0May 2019, the Bangladeshi foreign minister, Abul-Kalam Abdul-Momen, stated that<\/a> Begum has \u201cnothing to do\u201d with Bangladesh and would be denied entry, and if she did find her way there she would face capital punishment due to zero-tolerance policies for terrorist activities.\u00a0\u201cThe British government is responsible for her,\u201d\u00a0he said<\/a>. Three weeks after her citizenship was revoked,\u00a0Begum\u2019s baby died<\/a> of a respiratory infection. She continues to be effectively stateless.<\/p>\n

Loyd described Begum as emotionless and awkward, with no discernible sympathy.\u00a0Begum revealed\u00a0she was not disturbed<\/a>\u00a0by the sight of decapitated heads of fighters in a trash can in\u00a0Raqqa, by other atrocities or by the torture and murder of Western journalists by ISIL. After hearing this, anyone would see Begum as someone who does not deserve empathy. Scholar Lisa Downing\u00a0has argued that\u00a0it should not matter how we feel<\/a> about Begum. Even so, if Begum\u2019s intention has been to return, why has she not at least pretended to be remorseful?<\/p>\n

Begum\u2019s statements are precisely what I would anticipate from an indoctrinated child, spending years living within the reach of ISIL\u2019s extreme propaganda machine. Her demeanour and lack of emotion and remorse may be a response to emotional trauma. We don\u2019t know the full story because she has not undergone a proper evaluation with a trauma specialist. Begum\u2019s lack of emotion matches that of many born-again insurgents whom I have interviewed.<\/p>\n

In my fieldwork, an ex-combatant with Jundallah, an insurgent group in Iran, told me about the first time he was assigned to execute a hostage to prove his devotion to the cause. \u201cThe man was weltering around, fighting for his life, screaming.\u201d It took multiple bullets to kill the prisoner, not the single shot he had imagined. \u201cIt killed me inside\u2026After that experience, nothing fazes me anymore\u2026I am dead inside.\u201d The reality of what it means to fight for the cause shook him, and he eventually escaped to Turkey to help with a disillusionment, deradicalization and disengagement initiative. He explained that many foreign recruits want to prove themselves, to be considered insiders. They take their assignments seriously and cling strongly to the ideology to remove any remnant of hesitation, doubt or guilt.<\/p>\n

Putting aside Begum\u2019s lack of penitence, the first question should never have been \u201cWhere are her parents from?\u201d but rather \u201cWhat is the right thing to do?\u201d It was much easier to strip her of citizenship and reframe the discussion in the media than to ask the hard question: Why do men and women join extremist organizations? Western-born members often have the opportunity to enjoy comfortable, middle-class\u00a0lives, with the chance to advance in admired, conventional careers. Instead, they choose terrorism and commit heinous acts of violence against their fellow citizens, often at the price of their own lives.\u00a0We need to rewind and ask what went wrong.<\/p>\n

During my 2018 fieldwork, I met Jabbar, a 32-year-old barbershop owner in Paris. While he disdained acts of terror, he told me that he understood why people join extremist groups. When he was younger, with no job, and \u201cconstantly getting harassed by everyone on every occasion,\u201d he internalized vast challenges with his identity and harboured a deep sense of alienation. He was accepted neither in France nor in Algeria, where his parents emigrated from. To be accepted as French, \u201cyou have to change your hair, switch your name to Pierre, eat pork, drink wine, and in the end, they still call you a cosmopolitan Muslim.\u201d He was also ridiculed in Algeria and was not considered a true Algerian because of his accent and clothing. He asserted that was why second-generation youths feel alienated and excluded.<\/p>\n

Begum\u2019s case is an example of how citizenship, along with other rights often taken for granted by the majority, is variable and portrayed as a privilege for those whose parents or grandparents are immigrants.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In a story that made headlines recently, a sales manager named\u00a0Mohamed Amghar described being coerced to change his name<\/a> to Antoine, a traditional French name, at work. He is suing his former firm for 440,000 euros and filing a discrimination complaint. He was pressured into using the name on business cards, conference badges, plane tickets and even performance awards. \u201cIf people like me, who did what was necessary to get good jobs, to get training, to live as citizens, are besmirched and denied our rights, where are we going?\u201d Amghar said<\/a>.\u00a0\u201cI only have one name, I only have one nationality,\u201d he added. \u201cMy name is Mohamed, and I am French.\u201d\u00a0The systemic nature of micro-aggressions, discrimination, racism and xenophobia has been documented throughout most of Western Europe, the United States and Canada. This narrative was common across my fieldwork and may be applicable for young recruits who have gone on to conduct terrorist activities, recruited by a group that claimed to finally accept them in all aspects of their being.<\/p>\n

As part of Western governments\u2019 obligations to fix their counterterrorism strategies, Western countries need to create an effective response for returnees. Begum\u2019s case is an example of how citizenship, along with other rights often taken for granted by the majority, is variable and portrayed as a privilege for those whose parents or grandparents are immigrants. Insurgent groups appeal to this notion. An\u00a0ISIS magazine<\/a>\u00a0 stated, \u201cThey never will consider you an equal to the white man,\u201d and claimed you will always be considered second-class citizens. Efforts have continued to \u201cother\u201d Begum for her mother\u2019s immigrant status.\u00a0All the while, politicians have riled up the public, framing her case as a decision about whether to \u201cwelcome back a terrorist.\u201d<\/p>\n

I am not saying Begum shouldn\u2019t be held accountable.\u00a0I firmly believe that she should be subject to criminal prosecution, if appropriate, along with rehabilitation. As I have\u00a0argued before<\/a>, bringing back returnees may provide the opportunity to enhance counterterrorism intelligence by drawing upon them as a resource on extremist recruitment and radicalization strategies. Perhaps even more importantly, bringing back returnees would allow the UK and other Western nations to uphold human rights by pursuing justice through the judicial system and by providing the appropriate rehabilitation. Instead, we are seeing\u00a0an acceleration and cultivation of separate justice for separate peoples. Consider this: Would Begum have lost her citizenship if her parents were from Leeds?<\/p>\n

Revoking citizenship based on parents\u2019 immigration status sidesteps the ethical obligations that states have toward their citizens and alienates second-generation immigrants, deepening prejudices they are already well accustomed to experiencing. The UK has the opportunity to change its course and set an example for Canada and the rest of the world. Begum should have a fair trial in the only country where she has ever held citizenship.<\/p>\n

Western nations should reconsider their stance on repatriation despite the challenges involved. They should bring home their citizens to demonstrate their commitment to justice for all and prevent the secondary effects of the cycle of alienation, isolation and othering that leads to extremism in the first place. This is part of any proper justice system and could reduce radicalization in youth in the long run. It could foster belonging, which is something the politics of fear cannot do.\u00a0Western nations must look upstream and deconstruct the systems and policies in place that are riddled with micro-aggressions, structural xenophobia and outright racism to reconstruct an inclusive society that would eliminate the breeding ground for radicalization that currently exists.<\/p>\n

Photo: Shutterstock.com, by\u00a0Sellmepixels<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ISIL bride Shamima Begum, whose British citizenship was revoked in 2019 on national security grounds, can return to the UK from Syria to plead her case to restore her citizenship, according to a UK court.\u00a0The Court of Appeal\u00a0ruled on July 16 that Begum had been denied a fair hearing because she could not properly defend 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