British woman who joined ISIS loses fresh appeal against loss of citizenship

LONDON — Shamima Begum, who left the U.K. to join the ISIS terror group while still in school, has lost another appeal against the British government’s decision to strip her of her citizenship.

Begum was 15 when she left her home in London to travel to Syria in 2015. She joined the Islamic State terrorist group, marrying a fellow member shortly after her arrival in Syria.

When she was discovered alive in 2019 at a refugee camp in Northern Syria, Begum said she wanted to return to the U.K. But the then-Home Secretary Sajid Javid immediately revoked her British citizenship.

That decision left Begum in Syria where she is indefinitely detained as an ISIS supporter at the camp, which she has described as “worse than prison.”

Last year, the now 24-year-old lost a challenge against the decision.

Her lawyers then brought a Court of Appeal bid to overturn that decision — made by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission — but this was dismissed by the court Friday.

The ruling means Begum — currently still in Syria — has no chance of returning to the U.K.