Shamima Begum ruling shows UK wants to wash its hands of such prisoners

Even if Begum had won her appeal, there would have been no immediate prospect of her returning to the UK as other British citizens have remained in such camps for years. Photograph: BBC

Five years after Shamima Begum expressed her hope of returning to the UK, having been found by a Times journalist in a detention camp in north-east Syria, she is no closer to her wish being fulfilled.

Friday’s ruling by the court of appeal that then home secretary, Sajid Javid’s, decision to strip her of her citizenship was lawful is the latest in a string of legal decisions that have gone against Begum, who was 15 when she left her east London home with two schoolfriends to travel to Islamic State (IS) territory.