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

The UK’s highest court ruled that she could not appeal the decision, following her loss at the Court of Appeal in February.

Begum, who left the UK at 15 to join ISIS in Syria, had her British citizenship revoked on national security grounds. Last year, she unsuccessfully appealed the decision at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).

On Wednesday, Supreme Court justices, including Lords Reed, Hodge, and Lloyd-Jones, ruled that her case did not raise a significant point of law, thereby denying her the opportunity to appeal further. The justices also found no arguable challenge to the Court of Appeal's ruling, which included the rejection of claims that Begum should have been allowed to make representations to the then-Home Secretary before her citizenship was revoked.

Earlier in February, Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr dismissed Begum's Court of Appeal challenge, stating that while the decision might be seen as harsh, the court's role was solely to determine the legality of the citizenship deprivation, which was upheld as lawful. Begum's attempt to escalate the case to the Supreme Court was subsequently rejected in March by the Court of Appeal.

Following the ruling, Ms Begum’s lawyers at Birnberg Pierce Solicitors said they “will take every possible legal step” on her behalf, including a petition to Strasbourg.

Lawyers to take ‘every possible step’

In a statement, a spokesperson for the law firm said: “It is a matter of the gravest concern that British women and children have been arbitrarily imprisoned in a Syrian camp for five years, all detained indefinitely without any prospect of a trial.

“All other countries in the UK’s position have intervened and achieved the return of their citizens and their children. Two weeks ago the US State Department once again addressed the responsibility of countries to repatriate their nationals from the camps in north-east Syria. The UK is now alone in its position.

“The UK courts have for five years offered no exit route despite the critical humanitarian crisis in the camps. Instead the Supreme Court has today left resolution to another court, this time in Strasbourg.

“Whilst on behalf of Ms Begum we, her lawyers, will take every possible legal step including to petition the European Court of Human Rights, this is an issue that can and should as the US urges, be resolved for all nationals by their own countries.”

Director of legal charity Reprieve, Maya Foa, called for the UK to “take responsibility” for British nationals in Ms Begum’s position. She said: “If Shamima Begum has committed crimes, she can be charged and prosecuted in a British court. The UK is more than capable of handling the case of a 15-year-old schoolgirl who was groomed online by an organised trafficking operation.”

Ms Foa added: “Exiling British nationals like Ms Begum is about politics, not the law. The prior government’s failed do-nothing approach must be abandoned. Our politicians should take responsibility and repatriate the small number of British families in this position so their cases can be dealt with here in Britain.”