Shamima Begum was only 15 when she left London with two of her friends to marry ISIS fighters in Syria in 2015. In her recent statement, Begum insisted she was “brainwashed” by the terrorist group.
Speaking for the first time since the death of her third child, the east Londoner told The Times that she “really regretted everything” and wants “a second chance to start my life over again.”
Begum indicated that since she left Baghouz, she really regretted everything she did, and “I feel like I want to go back to the UK for a second chance to start my life over again.”
Begum’s story became famous after her family launched a campaign pleading for her return home with her new-born back then. Her three-week-old son died last month, two days after being taken to hospital with lung disease, and was buried near the al-Roj refugee camp in Syria.
“I was brainwashed. I came here believing everything that I had been told, while knowing little about the truths of my religion,” she was quoted by The Times.
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are holding Begum in a camp in Baghouz, ISIS last stronghold in east of Syria, along with dozens of ISIS brides.
Begum, who was stripped of her British nationality, said she was still influenced by the extremist ideas she previously adopted when her story first received public attention.
She explained that her new social freedom, compared to her ISIS days, helped her re-evaluate her ideas. She still hopes that she will eventually be able to return to the UK, describing the country of her birth as the only place she has ever known.
Despite the campaign organized by the Begum family to bring her back to the UK, British Interior Minister Sajid Javed decided to revoke her British citizenship in March.
They have initiated legal proceedings to review the Minister’s decision, arguing that she is not dual-citizen and revoking her nationality could leave her stateless.
Begum says she now accepts that she is likely to stay in Syria.
“I have sat down and thought about how long I would have to stay here. And I have kind of accepted that I will have to stay here, I will have to make this like a second home,” she said.
