Jihadi Come Home? Shamima Begum to Legally Fight for UK Return - Report

The lawyer of Shamima Begum has said in an interview that he plans to challenge the decision to have the British Daesh bride stripped of her citizenship, "as soon as possible."

In an interview with Sky News, Tasnime Akunjee, who represents the young woman and her family, has said that he plans to head off to the Syrian camp where the 19-year-old terrorist wife is staying to discuss initiating the legal fight against the British state's decision to remove Miss Begum's citizenship. Yet, he admitted that the case is a very complex one, saying that other lawyers he's been liaising with have been "scratching their heads." 

READ MORE: Daesh Teen Bride Okaying Beheadings Stripped of UK Citizenship

He also told Sky that the Begum family is "quite eager" to bring Shamima's newborn baby back from Syria to the UK swiftly. He added that he believes there is absolutely no need to put Begum's baby at risk in the al-Hawl camp in northern Syria, an area for the displaced within the war-torn country that is racked by abject poverty.

"For all intents and purposes [Shamima Begum] is stateless. But the child is not," he said.

​Yet, echoing Miss Begum's assertion that it is wrong for Britain to separate her from her baby, the lawyer added that "no one can stand in the way of a mother and what her decision-making process around her child should be — unless she is deemed unfit by a psychiatrist."

READ MORE: Bangladesh Denies Citizenship to Daesh Teen Bride Shamima Begum — Reports

Home Secretary Sajid Javid — the man responsible for removing Miss Begum's citizenship — appears to have softened his tone somewhat over the past few days, now saying that the Jihadi bride will not be left "stateless" — a move which would be illegal under international law. The home secretary has confirmed that her son is a British citizen, as he was born before her citizenship was removed.

​In another development, the BBC obtained a letter allegedly penned by Shamima's sister, Renu, meant for Mr Javid, which reads that Miss Begum's five-day-old child "is the one true innocent and should not lose privilege of being raised in the safety of this country."

"We are sickened by the comments she [Shamima Begum] has made… we hope you will understand that we, as her family, cannot simply abandon her," the letter reads, adding that Shamima was "groomed" by the Daesh terror group.

In her most recent interview, also with Sky news, Miss Begum said that she is "willing to change" and has asked for the British government to show her "mercy" by letting her return to the UK.

Miss Begum was catapulted into international headlines last week after saying in an interview with the Times that she had "no regrets" about joining the terrorist group and how seeing a severed head in a bin "did not faze" her. Mr Javid, who asserted that he would do "everything" in his power to block British Daesh fighters and their brides from returning to the UK promptly stripped Miss Begum of her citizenship, saying that she could claim Bangladeshi citizenship due to her mother's origins in that country. However, Bangladesh quickly shot down that possibility, saying that Miss Begum had been "erroneously identified" as a citizen by the UK government and that she had "never" visited the country.