Get the USA TODAY app Flying spiders explained Start the day smarter ☀️ Honor all requests?
ISIS (militant group)

Shamima Begum, who ran away to join ISIS, loses bid to return to UK

Associated Press
A family member of Shamima Begum holds a picture of the British girl, left, while being interviewed by the media in London, on February 22, 2015.

LONDON – A woman who as a teenager ran away to join the Islamic State group has lost her bid to return to the United Kingdom to fight for the restoration of her citizenship, which was revoked on national security grounds.

Shamima Begum was one of three east London schoolgirls who traveled to Syria in 2015. She resurfaced at a refugee camp in Syria and told reporters she wanted to come home, but was denied the chance after former Home Secretary Sajid Javid revoked her citizenship.

The U.K. Supreme Court ruled Friday that she should not be allowed to return to the country to pursue her case.

Javid argued that she was Bangladeshi by descent and could go there.

She challenged the decision, arguing she is not a citizen of another country and that Javid’s decision left her stateless.

Shamima Begum, 15, is shown on surveillance video released by Scotland Yard as she goes through a checkpoint at London's Gatwick Airport on Feb. 17, 2015.
Featured Weekly Ad