Shamima Begum loses first bid to challenge citizenship removal at Supreme Court

Shamima Begum's initial attempt to challenge the revocation of her British citizenship has been denied by the Supreme Court. Last year, she failed to appeal the decision to revoke her citizenship due to national security concerns at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).

Ms Begum, who was discovered in a Syrian refugee camp following her travel to the country at the age of 15 in 2015 to join the terror group ISIS, had her bid to overturn the SIAC ruling rejected by the Court of Appeal earlier this year.

On Monday (March 25), a judicial spokesperson confirmed that Ms Begum had asked the Court of Appeal for the green light to take her case to the Supreme Court, but had been refused. Ms Begum may now ask the Supreme Court directly for permission to have her case heard by the UK’s highest court.

Dismissing her Court of Appeal challenge in February, the Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, said: “It could be argued the decision in Ms Begum’s case was harsh. It could also be argued that Ms Begum is the author of her own misfortune, but it is not for this court to agree or disagree with either point of view.

“The only task of the court was to assess whether the deprivation decision was unlawful. Since it was not, Ms Begum’s appeal is dismissed.”

Following this decision, Ms Begum’s solicitor Daniel Furner said: “I want to say that I’m sorry to Shamima and to her family that after five years of fighting she still hasn’t received justice in a British court, and to promise her and promise the Government that we are not going to stop fighting until she does get justice and until she is safely back home.”