On 22nd October 2019 a four day preliminary hearing at Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) began. SIAC is hearing Shamima Begum’s appeal against the decision by the Home Secretary to revoke her British Citizenship. Angus McCullough QC has been appointed with Adam Straw, as Special Advocates for Shamima Begum.
This high profile case concerns Shamima Begum. As widely reported, she left the UK aged 15 to join Islamic State in Syria. She married a Dutch fighter and gave birth to three children, none of whom survived. She was found in a Syrian refugee camp by journalists.
She is launching a legal challenge to the decision to revoke her citizenship on various grounds, including that it leaves her stateless. The Home Office claims that under Bangladeshi law she is a citizen by descent as her father never became a naturalised British citizen. They argue that the risks she faces are unrelated to her citizenship, but to her decision to relocate to Syria and join IS.
This hearing is not expected to examine the claim that she is a threat to national security.
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