Shamima Begum has been left in limbo, held without charge or trial, following a Court of Appeal ruling on Friday that found former Home Secretary Sajid Javid’s decision to strip her citizenship was lawful.
Head of unlawful detentions at Reprieve Katherine Cornett told the Guardian that what the judgement “goes to show is that this is a political problem with a political solution.”
In a separate article the Guardian reports that without UK intervention, Begum will be detained indefinitely in Roj camp.
“Security experts have said – and indeed the Kurdish detaining authorities have said – that the status quo won’t hold. There’s every reason to believe these detention facilities will collapse,” Cornett told the Guardian.
“The security situation in the region is incredibly volatile, and should that happen these nationals will face possible transfer to another jurisdiction – like under [Syrian president Bashar al-]Assad – disappearance, death somewhere else. So it’s an incredibly precarious and dangerous situation these British families are in.”
Reprieve’s joint executive director Maya Foa also spoke to the Guardian: “This whole episode shames ministers who would rather bully a child victim of trafficking than acknowledge the UK’s responsibilities.”