UK moves to strip ISIL bride of her citizenship

The United Kingdom is making moves to strip ISIL bride Shamima Begum of her citizenship, so says her lawyer Mohammed Tasnime Akunjee.

According to Akunjee, authorities in the UK plan to revoke her citizenship after she signaled her intention to return home years after she left London for Syria to join ISIL.

In a tweet on Tuesday, Akunjee said Begum’s family was “very disappointed with the Home Office’s intention to have an order made depriving Shamima of her citizenship”.

He said the family is “considering all legal avenues to challenge this decision”.

The move is coming days after Home Secretary Sajid Javid said Begum who was just15-years-old and living in Bethnal Green, London, when she left the UK in 2015 to join ISIS in Syria, could be prevented from returning home.

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“My message is clear,”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.

“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 also 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”.

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