Shamima Begum loses bid to regain British citizenship as appeal thrown out
Shamima Begum has lost her bid to regain British citizenship after Court of Appeal judges ruled the government was entitled to block her return to the UK to protect national security.The former East London schoolgirl left the UK and travelled to ISIS-controlled Syria in 2015, when she was 15-years-old, and her citizenship was revoked four years later when she turned up in a Syrian refugee camp.
Transcript
00:00 In our judgment, the national security exemption applies to any exercise of function or powers.
00:09 As such, the national security, the deprivation decision, was exempt from the duties that
00:16 arose under section 149.
00:20 The exemption did not require the court to undertake a separate proportionality assessment.
00:28 In any event, SIAC had been correct to find that the deprivation power was exercised in
00:36 a proportionate manner.
00:40 In conclusion, for these reasons we unanimously dismiss the appeal.
00:49 It could be argued that the decision in Ms Begum's case was harsh.
00:56 It could also be argued that Ms Begum is the author of her own misfortune.
01:03 But it is not for this court to agree or disagree with either point of view.
01:11 Our only task is to assess whether the deprivation decision was unlawful.
01:19 We have concluded it was not and the appeal is dismissed.