Shamima Begum: IS teen’s return to UK ‘could be prevented’

A British woman who fled to Syria as a schoolgirl to join the Islamic State group could be prevented from returning to the UK, the home secretary has said.

“My message is clear,” Sajid Javid told the Times: “If you have supported terrorist organisations abroad I will not hesitate to prevent your return.”

He added that if Shamima Begum, 19, did come home she could be prosecuted.

Ms Begum, who is pregnant, told the paper she had no regrets but wanted to have her baby in the UK.

“We must remember that those who left Britain to join Daesh were full of hate for our country,” Mr Javid said.

“If you do manage to return you should be ready to be questioned, investigated and potentially prosecuted.”

Mr Javid added that there were a range of measures available to “stop people who pose a serious threat from returning to the UK, including depriving them of their British citizenship or excluding them from the country”.

Security chiefs in London could also control Ms Begum’s possible return through a Temporary Exclusion Order.

The controversial legal tool bars a British citizen from returning home until they have agreed to investigation, monitoring and, if required, deradicalisation.

However Lord Carlile, a former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said Ms Begum would have to be accepted back into the UK if she had not become a national of any other country.

Under international law, it is not possible to render a person stateless.

BBC