When she was found in a Syrian refugee camp in 2019, British authorities decided to revoke her citizenship citing national security.
Now a court has rejected Begum’s appeal in the matter. She thus does not get her citizenship back.
Shamima Begum – who is now stateless – claims she should be treated as a victim of human trafficking rather than a terrorist. The 23-year-old’s case has become a symbol of a larger dilemma: how countries in the West should deal with citizens who joined the terrorist group IS but now want to go home.