BREAKING: Shamima Begum given fresh hope of returning to Britain as European judges challenge the UK government’s decision to strip her of citizenship

Shamima Begum has fresh hope today in her bid to return to Britain after European judges told the UK to justify its stance to strip the ISIS bride of her UK citizenship.

The European Court of Human Rights has formally asked the Home Office whether it broke human rights and anti-trafficking laws – which is Begum’s main legal argument.

Lawyers for the former London schoolgirl hailed the request as an ‘unprecedented opportunity’ because it could unlock a new battle between the UK and Strasbourg.

Begum, who lived in Bethnal Green, was found in a Syrian refugee camp in 2019 after her travel to ISIS-controlled territory in the country as a 15-year-old in 2015.

Her UK citizenship was immediately revoked by then-home secretary Sajid Javid on national security grounds, kickstarting a lengthy legal challenge by Begum.

She lost an appeal in February 2023 against the decision to revoke her citizenship after the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) ruled this was lawful.

Begum then lost a Court of Appeal bid in February 2024, before she was most recently denied the chance to challenge it at the Supreme Court in August 2024.

However, Begum’s lawyers warned at the time that they could still take her case to the European Court of Human Rights – which they later did.

Shamima Begum, who lived in Bethnal Green, was found in a Syrian refugee camp in 2019

Begum is still living at the al-Roj camp in Hasakah province in northern Syria (pictured in 2021)

Now, the revelation in the Daily Express today of formal communication between the UK and Strasbourg has prompted fears that Begum could eventually return to Britain.

But shadow home secretary Chris Philp tweeted today: ‘Under no circumstances should Shamima Begum be allowed back into the UK. I will raise this case in Parliament on Monday with the Home Secretary.

‘Begum chose to go and support the violent Islamist extremists of Daesh, who murdered opponents, raped thousands of women and girls and threw people off buildings for being gay.

Shamima Begum: From fleeing to Syria to UK citizenship legal battle

February 2015: Shamima Begum leaves Britain to travel to Istanbul, before heading onto Syria with Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase

February 2019: Begum is tracked down to the al-Hawl refugee camp in northern Syria and says she wants to return to Britain. The Home Office revokes her UK citizenship.

October 2019: Begum begins an appeal against the revocation of her citizenship

February 2020: Begum loses the first stage of a legal challenge at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC)

July 2020: The Court of Appeal rules Begum should be allowed to return to the UK to challenge the deprivation of her citizenship

February 2021: The Supreme Court rules Begum should not be allowed to return to the UK to pursue an appeal

February 2023: Begum loses her legal challenge at SIAC

February 2024: Begum loses her challenge at the Court of Appeal

August 2024: Begum is told she cannot challenge the removal of her citizenship at the Supreme Court

December 2025: The European Court of Human Rights formally asks the Home Office to justify its stance

‘She has no place in the UK and our own Supreme Court found that depriving her of citizenship was lawful. It is deeply concerning the European Court of Human Rights is now looking at using the ECHR to make the UK take her back.

‘I have no confidence this Labour government will robustly defend the UK’s interests in this case. What is clearer than ever is that we must leave the ECHR in order to protect our borders. The Conservatives are the only party with a proper plan to do that.’

Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick also said: ‘Shamima Begum should never step foot on British soil again.  We can’t let a foreign court meddle in our national security.’

Former security minister Sir Ben Wallace, who was involved in the Home Office citizenship deprivation case, told the Express: ‘She went of her own free will to support a cause that doesn’t believe in any Western court.

‘She wasn’t a victim. She knowingly and freely joined ISIS and assisted them in the prosecution of their murderous campaign. She deserved to lose her citizenship.

‘The cheek of her going through a court system that she and the other terrorists would fundamentally want to destroy isn’t lost on anybody. She wanted to go there. She can stay there.’

Begum is still living at the al-Roj camp in northern Syria as her representatives at London-based Birnberg Peirce Solicitors continue to fight her case.

The Home Office has now been told by the European court to answer four questions about her citizenship.

One asks: ‘Has there been a violation of the applicant’s rights under Article 4 of the Convention by virtue of the decision to deprive her of her citizenship?’

Another says: ‘For the purposes of the Article 4 complaints made in the application, was the applicant at all material times within the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom, within the meaning of Article 1 of the Convention?’

Article 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights relates to ‘protection of property’, while Article 4 relates to ‘freedom from slavery and forced labour’.

A further question asks: ‘Did the Secretary of State for the Home Department’s decision to deprive the applicant of her citizenship engage her rights under Article 4 of the Convention?’

A Home Office spokeswoman told the Daily Mail: ‘The Government will always protect the UK and its citizens.

‘That is why Shamima Begum – who posed a national security threat – had her British citizenship revoked and is unable to return to the UK.

Shamima Begum had her British citizenship revoked in 2019 and cannot return to the UK

Shamima Begum passes through barriers at Gatwick Airport in 2015 before fleeing to Syria

‘We will robustly defend any decision made to protect our national security.’

In October, the Government announced that extremists stripped of their British citizenship would no longer be able to regain their status after a successful first appeal as a new law came into force.

Beforehand, a person who the Government considered a threat to national security could have been released from immigration detention or returned to the UK while further appeals to stop them were ongoing.

But the new law closed this loophole so that citizenship cannot be regranted until all appeal proceedings have been completed.

Between 2018 and 2023, an average of 12 people a year were deprived of their citizenship on the grounds it was ‘conducive to the public good’.

This decision is made by the home secretary in serious cases where it is believed to be in the public interest, for reasons such as terrorism or serious organised crime.