Danny Dyer has said Shamima Begum, who ran away from London to join Isis at the age of 15, should be allowed to return to the UK.
The EastEnders actor weighed in on the debate surrounding the 19-year-old during an appearance on Good Morning Britain on Monday.
“How has it got into her head that going to Syria at 15 years of age is the answer, when she lives in this country?” Dyer said. “What is that about?
“Who is there to guide her, talk to her? Why is she so lost, within her soul, that she thinks that’s the answer?”
Dyer said the schoolgirl must have been “lost within her soul” to go to Syria.
Ms Begum is currently living in the al-Hawl refugee camp in Syria with her newborn son.
She left London in February 2015 with two fellow schoolgirls, Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase. Ms Sultana was reportedly killed in an airstrike in 2016 but Amira Abase is thought to still be alive.
Ms Begum said she wanted to return to the UK in interviews with multiple media outlets last week. The 19-year-old has repeatedly said she has no regrets about joining the terrorist group.
“I feel she needs a chance, maybe, to explain what was going on,” Dyer said.
“And maybe we can understand a little bit more about how they got to her and how she felt that it was the right move to jump on a plane and leave this country at 15 years of age.”
It remains unclear whether the British citizen could be legally barred from re-entering the UK, but Syrian authorities say she will not be allowed to leave the al-Hawl camp without official assistance, and the Foreign Office has refused to give it.
“She’s still a young girl,” Dyer said. “And look at the people around her, who was looking after her?
“Maybe we can learn from it. I don’t know.”
