Shemima Begum.

So much misinformation, her mother made a statement in 2022 and is in this country, her parents were, as already corrected, Bangladeshi. I haven't changed my mind about this. She should be allowed back into the country, she was a naive 15 year old, trafficked by older men and women and she has had an utterly vile life at the hands of ISIS. We should accept responsibility for her because frankly, if her school and other agencies had not failed in their duty of care towards her, she would never have left the country in the first place.

GrannyGravy13

How can we as a civilised country send foreign criminals back to their home countries but not accept our own back.

She has not been tried by any court, I totally accept that she could be a danger, but also I have to acknowledge that she doesn’t have to be in the U.K. in order to carry out/organise anything against us.

I was going to say exactly that gg13 but sometimes I lose the will to live😄😄

I agree with you both, too. *Glorianny and GG13.

This is why it's a good thing that I'm not in charge of anything much

That £5 million could have been spent on keeping her in close custody and in looking at how she was radicalised and if she presents any danger now.
This shirking of our responsibilities is unacceptable.
Her parents are not Pakistani they were from Bangladesh and only her father has returned there.
Of course it may suit certain people and interests to keep her out of the UK because of the involvement of the Canadian intelligence service and a British connection with the trafficking of children to Isis.

Sorry premature posting.

At least if she was here she could be monitored as to who she is seeing and where she is going.

Whilst she is in the refugee camp who knows who she is mixing with and who is influencing her,

My post crossed with yours, as I had to answer the door half way through - I wasn't ignoring you, GSM . Great minds think alike, anyway.

Ordinarily I don't think that 15 year olds should be punished for life, but in this case I don't think we necessarily know all the facts.

I do, however, have some reservations about the fact that SB is a distinctly charmless young woman. This may be because she is traumatised, or just be how she is, but someone more endearing might have more support, and something as life-changing as returning home from such a hostile environment shouldn't come down to things like that.

How can we as a civilised country send foreign criminals back to their home countries but not accept our own back.

She has not been tried by any court, I totally accept that she could be a danger, but also I have to acknowledge that she doesn’t have to be in the U.K. in order to carry out/organise anything against us.

Listening to her being interviewed today, I really do feel that she should be allowed back. She is remorseful and thoroughly ashamed of herself, and can’t believe how naive she was. At fifteen years old, I think most of us can be easily led.
Maybe I’m wrong, I don’t know, but she will probably have to go to prison if she’s allowed back. She’s quite prepared for that.

“If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them"
Karl Popper.

Can’t imagine why she even wants to return. Pakistan would be much better for her.

She must never be allowed to return to our country. Too much has happened to her and she is far too radicalized to be trusted. Sad I recognize that but..............?
Yes she was only 15 , but most 15 year olds know better than to run away to join a terrorist organization!! I accept she may well have been a very disturbed teenager, but I fear she is now far more than a disturbed adult. Don't think she can ever become a ordinary citizen - she is far too damaged. Clearly there is more to this woman than we are aware of , thankfully the powers that be know more than we do and will keep her out of the UK.

And it’s not over yet. But I would rather money than lives be spent. The money paid to lawyers will be taxed (a great deal of it at the Additional Rate of 45%) and much of the rest will be spent back into the economy.

This debacle has cost the British taxpayer just over £5 million!

There is always an argument now about whether 15 year olds are old enough to take responsibility for their actions, whether it’s murder, self harm, or going off to join a terrorist organisation.
That aside, I am with GSM and others about not knowing all aspects of this case and about the person she is now and influences that might shape her actions.

She has been radicalised and appears to show no remorse so I doubt she would be rehabilitated. More likely that she would radicalise others, as we know often happens in prisons. It’s clear that the security services know she has become a very dangerous person.

Germanshepherdsmum

It’s clear that the decision to revoke her British citizenship was made on grounds of public safety but we will never know the information which was and is available to the Home Secretary. Not even her lawyers are privy to that as special counsel are appointed to act for her and for the government in the closed hearings. Do you remember the then Home Secretary saying ‘if you knew what I know’?

She has already cost us huge amounts of money and will continue to do so as her attempts to regain her citizenship carry on. I am satisfied that if she is a risk to our security, she should never be permitted to return. This is not just about what she did as a 15 year old. It is very much about the person she is now and the information which the security services have about that person.

My first reaction was that she was a child, has been punished for long enough. She should come back and be charged, bearing in mind she was a child at the time.

However, as Germanshepherdsmum says, there is much more to this than we, as members of the public, will ever know.

The other however is: if she does come back, is charged and sent to prison, is there a chance she may be rehabilitated?

Curtain. I did not know her parents had returned to Pakistan. All the more reason for her to be reunited with them. Strange they have stayed out of everything to do with her.

I agree with GSM. Begum should never be allowed back here.

We have to set an example...no means no. Her parents are from Pakistan and have returned there. If they truly love their daughter, they would make an effort to have her join them.
With the present climate in this country, she would be hailed a hero/heroine by those wanting to overturn the west.

GSM , a very valid point - yes 15 at the time , but what has she become ? She is damaged and I fear she may be a threat to our country.

I have always wondered why her parents have not spoken up if it so important for her to return to the UK.

She has never shown any remorse. I think she is a very clever, devious young woman.

I don’t agree with what she has done but she was an impressionable child when it happened. Everyone deserves a second chance just as long as she is monitored while she is over here.

Germanshepherdsmum

It’s clear that the decision to revoke her British citizenship was made on grounds of public safety but we will never know the information which was and is available to the Home Secretary. Not even her lawyers are privy to that as special counsel are appointed to act for her and for the government in the closed hearings. Do you remember the then Home Secretary saying ‘if you knew what I know’?

She has already cost us huge amounts of money and will continue to do so as her attempts to regain her citizenship carry on. I am satisfied that if she is a risk to our security, she should never be permitted to return. This is not just about what she did as a 15 year old. It is very much about the person she is now and the information which the security services have about that person.

Good post GSM Thank you.

The longer this goes on the more I wonder if there is a lot we are not being told about the level of risk SB might pose to the UK.

My first reaction is that she was a child who acted foolishly, and unfortunately the consequences of that folly were way beyond that which most 15 year olds have to face.

I still believe that to be true, but I am now starting to think that maybe her life in Syria has brought her into contact with people who have power over her, or that as she has grown up she has become genuinely radicalised (as opposed to groomed and tricked into believing in the cause of Islamism) and is a real threat to our security.

As you say, maddy it has cost a fortune to date, and if it were just a case of wanting to make an example of a child it would make sense to back down and let her come back but be closely supervised.

As the world has become even more dangerous and divided since she went to Syria it might be that it's better if she doesn't come back, even though that means that the consequences of her misguided behaviour have ruined her life altogether. It's a shame, and I do feel for her, but there are always going to be things that the security services can't tell us, and I'm increasingly wondering if something about SB is one of them.

It’s clear that the decision to revoke her British citizenship was made on grounds of public safety but we will never know the information which was and is available to the Home Secretary. Not even her lawyers are privy to that as special counsel are appointed to act for her and for the government in the closed hearings. Do you remember the then Home Secretary saying ‘if you knew what I know’?

She has already cost us huge amounts of money and will continue to do so as her attempts to regain her citizenship carry on. I am satisfied that if she is a risk to our security, she should never be permitted to return. This is not just about what she did as a 15 year old. It is very much about the person she is now and the information which the security services have about that person.