Shamima Begum should be given permission to come back to the UK along with other British women who joined Islamic State, according to a terror watchdog. Jonathan Hall KC, the reviewer of terrorism legislation, is expected to say that Britain should follow the position of allies such as the United States in allowing British women or those who are former citizens to return from Syria.
Mr Hall is also set to raise concerns about a new generation of extremists being reared under a programme called "cubs of the caliphate" in northern Syria. He will make the remarks during a speech at King’s College London this evening (Monday, February 27).
Ms Begum was 15 when she travelled from Bethnal Green, east London, through Turkey and into territory controlled by the so-called Islamic State (IS) group in 2015, before her citizenship was revoked in February 2019. She has been locked in a legal battle ever since and last week the 23-year-old lost her latest challenge against the decision to strip her of her British citizenship on national security grounds.
