- Saturday, April 27, 2024
By: Keerthi Mohan
BRITISH teenager Shamima Begum and her newborn son have been moved from a Syrian refugee camp after threats were made against them.
The 19-year-old from east London, who left the UK for Syria in 2015 to join Daesh (Islamic State), is thought to have fled from the Al-Hol camp to the Roj camp near the Iraqi border in a late-night escape.
“Shamima was threatened directly in the camp,” a source told The Sun.
“She is living in fear of her life. There is a bounty on her head. She felt she had no option but to move her and her child to have a chance of survival.
“Shamima has become something of a celebrity and is constantly looking over her shoulder, fearing brutal reprisals for daring to speak out about life with Daesh.
“She’s in misery, but only has herself to blame.”
This development comes after the UK government ruled out any efforts to extract Begum and her child from Syria.
In an effort to stop Begum from returning, home secretary Sajid Javid in February stripped her of her British citizenship.
However, Begum’s father Ahmed Ali said his daughter should face justice in Britain.
“I don’t think he’s (Sajid Javid) done the right thing because she is a British citizen, and if it turns out she has committed any crimes, then she should face justice in the UK,” Ali told a news channel.
“She belongs to this country, she belongs to England. My daughter was a little child, she made a mistake, she didn’t properly understand.”
Begum, too, has urged authorities to compassion by allowing her to raise the baby in Britain.
Launching a fresh appeal to be brought back to the UK, Begum said she could be an example of “how someone can change.”
“I can’t do that if I am sitting here in a camp. I can’t do that for you,” she said, speaking from a refugee camp in northern Syria.
