Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Teen’s return plea sparks terror support debate

by Amit Roy

THE one question that has not been asked about Shamima Begum is how her return to the UK would impact the British-Asian community in general and Bangladeshis, in particular. Would the harassment British Muslims suffer increase or decrease if she were to come back?


There are some politicians who say her return cannot be blocked because the UK cannot make her stateless. But the home secretary Sajid Javid has declared: “My message

is clear – if you have supported terrorist organisations abroad, I will not hesitate to prevent your return.”

Shamima, who was 15 when she “married” Yago Riedijk, a Dutch Daesh (Islamic State) fighter, three weeks after arriving in Syria, says she “wouldn’t have found someone like him back in the UK”. She adds that she doesn’t regret going in the first place because “it’s made me stronger, tougher”; when she saw her first decapitated head in a bin, it

“didn’t faze me at all”; and she knew Daesh were conducting executions, but she was “ok with it, at first”.

She is now 19 and just given birth to a son after two children failed to survive. She claims she was “just a wife” and that the security services have nothing on her since she did

not do anything “dangerous”. All things considered, she reckons she had “a good time”.

Antony Lloyd, of The Times, the reporter who interviewed her in a refugee camp, has shown remarkable generosity by arguing: “She was a 15-year-old schoolgirl who made

a terrible mistake... and we must do our best to rehabilitate her among our own people.”

Public opinion appears to be more in tune with Reg Henning, whose brother, Alan, a British aid worker, was beheaded by “Jihadi John”. He is emphatic she should “absolutely not” be allowed back.

Shamima’s family naturally want her back though they had no clue what she was up to when she fled to Syria in February 2015, with two other girls, Kadiza Sultana and

Amira Abase, from Bethnal Green Academy. They were reportedly following in the footsteps of another girl, Sharmeena Begum, from the same school, who travelled to Syria in December 2014.

Mohammed Shafiq, head of antiextremism charity the Ramadhan Foundation, said he was “deeply disturbed” by Shamima’s attempts to “normalise” Daesh.

“Nothing in what they did was good and they are enemies of Islam and Muslims”, he said.

That is the point.

The chances are when Shamima is allowed to return – as she probably will be – she will be held for a few weeks or months and then will begin to live the life of a “celebrity” which she undoubtedly will become.

There is so much interest in her story that she will become a regular guest on TV shows. Perhaps there will be a lucrative book deal. By and by, she will become a kind of spokeswoman for her brand of Islam.

As she has said, she is no longer “the silly girl” who ran away four years ago. Lots of impressionable young pupils at Bethnal Green Academy and elsewhere will look up to her and want to emulate her in some way.

Is that what families like that of Shamima want?

And with her as a mother, what kind of young man will her son grow up to be?

Shamima is not the only moral dilemma facing the government.

As US president Donald Trump reminded Britain and other western allies last Sunday (17), there are 800 ‘jihadi’ prisoners in Syria to take back.

More For You

starmer-bangladesh-migration
Sir Keir Starmer
Getty Images

Comment: Can Starmer turn Windrush promises into policy?

Anniversaries can catalyse action. The government appointed the first Windrush Commissioner last week, shortly before Windrush Day, this year marking the 77th anniversary of the ship’s arrival in Britain.

The Windrush generation came to Britain believing what the law said – that they were British subjects, with equal rights in the mother country. But they were to discover a different reality – not just in the 1950s, but in this century too. It is five years since Wendy Williams proposed this external oversight in her review of the lessons of the Windrush scandal. The delay has damaged confidence in the compensation scheme. Williams’ proposal had been for a broader Migrants Commissioner role, since the change needed in Home Office culture went beyond the treatment of the Windrush generation itself.

Keep ReadingShow less
Eye Spy: Top stories from the world of entertainment

Ed Sheeran and Arijit Singh

Eye Spy: Top stories from the world of entertainment

Ed Sheeran and Arijit Singh’s ‘Sapphire’ collaboration misses the mark

The song everyone is talking about this month is Sapphire – Ed Sheeran’s collaboration with Arijit Singh. But instead of a true duet, Arijit takes more of a backing role to the British pop superstar, which is a shame, considering he is the most followed artist on Spotify. The Indian superstar deserved a stronger presence on the otherwise catchy track. On the positive side, Sapphire may inspire more international artists to incorporate Indian elements into their music. But going forward, any major Indian names involved in global collaborations should insist on equal billing, rather than letting western stars ride on their popularity.

Ed Sheeran and Arijit Singh

Keep ReadingShow less
If ayatollahs fall, who will run Teheran next?

Portraits of Iranian military generals and nuclear scientists, killed in Israel’s last Friday (13) attack, are seen above a road, as heavy smoke rises from an oil refinery in southern Teheran hit in an overnight Israeli strike last Sunday (15)

If ayatollahs fall, who will run Teheran next?

THERE is one question to which none of us has the answer: if the ayatollahs are toppled, who will take over in Teheran?

I am surprised that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei, has lasted as long as he has. He is 86, and would achieve immortality as a “martyr” in the eyes of regime supporters if the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, succeeded in assassinating him. This was apparently Netanyahu’s plan, though he was apparently dissuaded by US president Donald Trump from going ahead with the killing.

Keep ReadingShow less
Comment: Talking about race isn’t racist – ignoring it helped grooming gangs thrive

A woman poses with a sign as members of the public queue to enter a council meeting during a protest calling for justice for victims of sexual abuse and grooming gangs, outside the council offices at City Centre on January 20, 2025 in Oldham, England

Getty Images

Comment: Talking about race isn’t racist – ignoring it helped grooming gangs thrive

WAS a national inquiry needed into so-called grooming gangs? Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer did not think so in January, but now accepts Dame Louise Casey’s recommendation to commission one.

The previous Conservative government – having held a seven-year national inquiry into child sexual abuse – started loudly championing a new national inquiry once it lost the power to call one. Casey explains why she changed her mind too after her four-month, rapid audit into actions taken and missed on group-based exploitation and abuse. A headline Casey theme is the ‘shying away’ from race.

Keep ReadingShow less
Eye Spy: Top stories from the world of entertainment

Shraddha Jain

Eye Spy: Top stories from the world of entertainment

FUNNY UK TOUR

The tidal wave of top Indian stand-up stars touring the UK continues with upcoming shows by Shraddha Jain this July. The hugely popular comedian – who has over a million Instagram followers – will perform her family-friendly show Aiyyo So Mini Things at The Pavilion, Reading (4), the Ondaatje Theatre, London (5), and The Old Rep Theatre, Birmingham (6). The 90-minute set promises an entertaining take on the mundane and uproarious aspects of everyday life.

Keep ReadingShow less