UK Edition
Shamima Begum, the former Islamic State (IS) bride, claimed that she could be an “asset” to Britain in the fight against terrorism, as she said her only crime was being “dumb”.
Begum, who fled her east London home for Syria as a 15-year-old schoolgirl more than six years ago, begged the British public for forgiveness, as she said she wanted to be brought back to the UK to face charges and prove her innocence in court.
She said she had no idea IS was a death cult when she joined, adding: “The only crime I committed was being dumb enough to join IS.”
In a direct plea to Boris Johnson, she said: “I think I could very much help you in your fight against terrorism because you clearly don’t know what you’re doing.”
She added: “I want them [the British public] to see me as an asset rather than a threat to them.”
The 22-year-old, who had her British citizenship revoked by the Home Office over security concerns, appeared on ITV’s Good Morning Britain from the camp in Syria where she is being detained, wearing a Nike baseball cap, a grey vest and with pink nail varnish on her fingers.
Sajid Javid, who was home secretary when he took the decision to revoke Begum’s citizenship in 2019, hit back at her claims that she played no part in IS terrorism, hinting at evidence in intelligence reports that made her a threat to national security.
“I won’t go into details of the case, but what I will say is that you certainly haven’t seen what I saw,” he said. “If you did know what I knew, because you are sensible, responsible people, you would have made exactly the same decision – of that, I have no doubt.”
Begum’s lawyers are appealing the revocation of her citizenship through the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, with a full hearing scheduled for November next year.
It comes despite a Supreme Court ruling in February that the Government was entitled to prevent Begum from returning to the UK to challenge the citizenship decision in person because she posed a threat to national security.
Spy agencies are said to have presented evidence that she was a member of the terror group’s feared “morality police”, and was even seen stitching suicide bombers into explosive vests and carrying a Kalashnikov.
However, Begum said on Wednesday: “I am willing to go to court and face the people who made these claims and refute these claims, because I know I did nothing in IS but be a mother and a wife.
“These claims are being made to make me look worse because the Government do not have anything on me. There is no evidence because nothing ever happened.”
Begum said she was a victim of grooming by extremists, would now “rather die” than rejoin IS, and admitted she was wrong to say that the Manchester Arena attack was “justified” because of airstrikes that have killed civilians in Syria.
She said: “I know it is very hard for [the public] to forgive me. But I say from the bottom of my heart that I am so sorry if I ever offended anyone by coming here, if I ever offended anyone by the things I said.”
On Wednesday, the Government came under backbench pressure to follow the example of the US and other EU nations and repatriate IS brides and their families potentially to prosecute them.
Andrew Mitchell, the former international development secretary, said: “Britain needs to face up to its responsibilities as one of the permanent five members of the UN and repatriate these people as the US government has urged.
“Some of these women were trafficked under age, effectively for sex. It is self-evidently a form of modern slavery outlawed by Parliament.”
Shamima Begum: A timeline in pictures
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