RWUK Expresses Concern About the Deprivation of Shamima Begum’s British Citizenship
21st February 2019
In response to the Home Secretarys decision of 19 February 2019 to deprive Shamima Begum of her British citizenship, Executive Director of Rights Watch (UK), Yasmine Ahmed commented:
First and foremost it must be remembered that Shamima Begum is likely a victim of grooming, recruitment and trafficking. Should her situation have occurred in the United Kingdom, if for example she was the victim of grooming in Rotherham, she would be considered a victim, and in the case of Rotherham, her abusers stripped of their citizenship. Instead she is banished.
Shamimas case highlights the failure of the UK Government to take account of the circumstances where alleged involvement of women in terrorism, and in this instance a child, is possibly linked to intimidation or vulnerability in the context of abuse and coercion. This is in violation of the UKs international obligations and is neither an ethical nor effective approach to countering terrorism.
Deprivation of citizenship is a significant power that has far and wide ranging implications yet it is held exclusively in the hands of the Home Secretary. We need to be certain that the power is not used in an arbitrary and unreasonable manner.
In the case of Shamima Begum there are serious questions about whether and to what extent Sajid Javid MP took account of the fact Shamima was likely groomed