Shamima Begum will soon find out if she has won an appeal against the removal of her British citizenship.
Ms Begum, now 24, lost her latest challenge at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) in February last year, as a court rejected her claims that she was unlawfully stripped of her British citizenship, but she took her case to the Court of Appeal in October.
At the time, the judge said that although there was a “credible suspicion” that she was a trafficking victim, this was not a factor that needed to be considered when removing her citizenship, which was done on national security grounds.
Ms Begum fled Bethnal Green to Syria when she was aged 15. She is now stuck in a refugee camp in northern Syria.
The ruling in Ms Begum's Court of Appeal case is due at a short hearing at 10am today (Friday, February 23).
Here are some key questions about the case:
What did Sajid Javid do?
Mr Javid has used his powers under the British Nationality Act 1981 to strip Ms Begum of her British citizenship. This can be done in instances where doing so would be “conducive to the public good”.
However, this power can only be used where the person concerned has dual nationality, as leaving an individual stateless is a breach of international law.
What is the law on revoking citizenship?
The power to revoke citizenship was extended by the Immigration Act in 2014 and can only be used in cases where a person has “conducted” themselves “in a manner which is seriously prejudicial to the vital interests of the UK” and where the secretary of state has “reasonable grounds for believing that the person is able, under the law of a country or territory outside the United Kingdom, to become a national of such country or territory”.
What was said about these powers when they were introduced?
Writing in the Daily Telegraph in 2014, then Home Secretary Theresa May said: “Following the recent Immigration Act, I can, in certain circumstances, remove citizenship from naturalised Britons who are fighting overseas and exclude them, too.
“And while it is illegal for any country to make its citizens stateless, any British national who returns from Syria and Iraq faces prosecution here for participating in terrorist activities abroad.”
Does Ms Begum have dual citizenship?
Bangladesh's minister of state for foreign affairs Shahriar Alam said she does not. He states: “Bangladesh asserts that Ms Shamima Begum is not a Bangladeshi citizen. She is a British citizen by birth and has never applied for dual nationality with Bangladesh.
“It may also be mentioned that she never visited Bangladesh in the past, despite her parental lineage.
“So, there is no question of her being allowed to enter into Bangladesh.”
