On 31st July, the UK government won a bid for the Supreme Court to decide if Shamima Begum can return to the UK. The 20-year-old girl was stripped of her British citizenship after joining the ISIL (ISIS) armed group in Syria in 2015 and can return to fight the decision.
Home secretary, Priti Patel, had successfully appealed a lower court ruling this month which would have allowed Shamima Begum, to return to the UK to pursue her appeal. The Bethnal Green schoolgirl was stripped off her British citizenship by former Home Secretary Sajid Javid on security grounds in 2019 after she was found living in a refugee camp in Syria. The Court of Appeal has now decided that the case raised a point of law of public importance and that only the Supreme Court can resolve.
Earlier this month, three Court of Appeal judges ruled that the Bethnal Green schoolgirl should be allowed back to London to fight for the return of her citizenship.
Begum, lost the first stage of her case about the legality of the government's decision at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) in February. However, the tribunal also ruled that she could not have a "fair and effective appeal" or play "any meaningful part" in the process, as she was living in a Syrian refugee camp.
Three senior judges at the Court of Appeal upheld the SIAC ruling on July 16, concluding Begum should be allowed to come to the UK for the legal challenge. They ruled "fairness and justice" outweighed any national security concerns, which "could be addressed and managed if she returns".
But judge Eleanor King, one of the trio, said at a remote hearing on Friday, 31st July that the country's highest court should consider a case that raised "points of law of general public importance".
