She could have applied for Bangladeshi citizenship until she was 21, but did not, and the South Asian country has said there is “no question” of her obtaining citizenship now.
The UK Home Office stripped her of citizenship when she was 19 years old, meaning she still had time to file for Bangladeshi citizenship…
Plus Shamima Begum was married to a Dutch guy, so she might see whether that country would take her. Plus if it’s true she’s harmless now, let’s have her apply for a golden passport. She can set up a Go Fund Me page. She needs to raise about $20,000.
I don’t want to sound indifferent to the fate of this former terrorist who has possibly made an authentic and complete turnaround. I’m fully aware she languishes in a Beckettian hellscape where insane burqabis attempt every day to kill non-burqabis. (Begum no longer wears a burqa.) But she had options, which she rejected. She still has a few, but seems to be doing nothing about them.
August 8th, 2024 at 6:02AM
What options? It’s not clear she ever visited Bangladesh or that the country had any meaning for her. Same goes for the Netherlands. She grew up in the UK. And the golden passport idea is a joke.
This is really harsh. She was 15. A child. Groomed, raped, brainwashed. She’s seen her children die. She’s probably traumatised. Yes, she did an unbelievably stupid thing, and joined a despicable organisation. But. She. Was. A. Child.
Let her stand trial for terrorism offences in the UK, if need be, and let her serve time in prison. But to leave her stateless is disgusting, and reduces us to the same level as the terrorists.
August 8th, 2024 at 8:00AM
Julie: A bit overstated there in your last sentence. Does your position no good.
She has no idea what her options are until she tries them. She has doubled down on her initial stupidity by rejecting some options that she no longer has.
To dismiss the idea of her, or her attorneys/family, approaching other countries about buying citizenship in order to liberate herself from stateless hell as a joke — why?
Given her dire situation, problems like a country having no meaning for her are rather on the trivial side. It’s probably not even true, since her parents certainly spoke of it, perhaps maintained some of its traditions, and lived among other Bangladeshis. The disastrous initial mistake she made – joining ISIS – suggests a stronger sense of affiliation with Islam than, say, Christianity. Certainly the country would have religious meaning for her. Further, Bangladesh always ranks as among the most corrupt countries in the world. What about her parents trying to bribe officials to get her in?
Most 15 year olds have a pretty good sense of right or wrong. She was an honors student – quite smart. No evidence of coercion has been presented, and she herself says ISIS beheading videos excited her and drew her to join. She seems to have made a full hearted ideological decision to join the group, and she certainly behaved in degenerate ways for years as a member of it.
Will you extend the same ‘she was only 15’ defense to the 15, 17 and 19 year olds currently under investigation for the planned Taylor Swift terror attack?
In short, there’s a national security reason that all her attempts to return to England have failed. She is moving on to a higher European court, and we will see if your arguments on her behalf prevail there.