ISIS bride Shamima Begum's family lawyer vows to fight decision to strip her of British citizenship

Shamima Begum left the UK in 2015
AFP/Getty Images

Shamima Begum’s family lawyer has vowed to fight a move to strip the ISIS bride of her British citizenship.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid made the decision against the Londoner, who fled the UK to Syria as a schoolgirl aged 15.

Tasnime Akunjee, her family’s lawyer, said they are considering “all legal avenues” to challenge the decision in the courts.

The 19-year-old’s family was told of the move in a letter from the Home Office on Tuesday, according to ITV News.

Shamima Begum pictured at Gatwick Airport in February 2015
EPA

The Home Office said such decisions are "not taken lightly" and are carried out "in order to protect this country".

"Please find enclosed papers that relate to a decision taken by the Home Secretary, to deprive your daughter, Shamima Begum, of her British citizenship," it read.

"In light of the circumstances of your daughter, the notice of the Home Secretary's decision has been served of file today (February 19), and the order removing her British citizenship has subsequently been made."

The letter asked the mother to inform her daughter of the decision, as well as her right to appeal.

How can Begum be stripped of her citizenship?

Questions have now been raised about how she can be stripped of her citizenship as a British national.

International law forbids nations from making people stateless by revoking their only citizenship.

It is not known if Ms Begum, who is of Bangladeshi heritage, holds dual citizenship.

Barrister David Anderson QC, who previously served as a reviewer of terrorism legislation, said: "Those born as British citizens who are not dual nationals cannot be stripped of their citizenship in any circumstances."

A 2017 government report on the issue said the Home Secretary has the power to "deprive a person of British citizenship" if it would be "conducive to the public good".

However, this only applies if the person would not be left stateless. If it is the case Ms Begum is a dual national, she could have her British citizenship stripped.

According to the letter, Ms Begum has the right to appeal the decision to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).

The SIAC is independent of the Government and allows individuals to appeal against immigration decisions by the Home Office, such as deportations and the removal of citizenship.

Those who are outside of the UK have 28 days to lodge an appeal from the time they receive their Home Office letter.

Amendments were made to British national laws in 2014 which made it easier to strip dual nationals of their British citizenship.

These measures were primarily aimed at terrorists who could potentially undermine UK security, for example those who fled to Syria to fight and were attempting to return home.

There are two other instances when British citizenship can be removed, which are permissible even if the person would be rendered stateless.

Deprivation of citizenship can be made if a person obtained their citizenship through registration or naturalisation and the Home Secretary is "satisfied that this was obtained by fraud, false representation or the concealment of a material fact".

Secondly, when citizenship is obtained through naturalisation and the Home Secretary believes that removing it would be "conducive to the public good" because the person acted in way which is "seriously prejudicial to the vital interests of United Kingdom, any of the Islands, or any British overseas territory".

However, this power, introduced in the Immigration Act 2014, can only be used if there are reasonable grounds for believing the person is able to acquire citizenship of another country, thereby avoiding remaining stateless.

Figures for 2017 show that 104 people were deprived of their British citizenship - up from 14 in the previous year.

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