Shamima Begum, the British-born woman who joined ISIS as a teenager in 2015, was seen publicly for the first time in years. According to the Daily Express, Begum appeared for an interview at the al-Roj detention camp in Syria. The report mentioned that the ISIS bride appeared ‘pale and thin’ while appearing for the interview.
From London Schoolgirl to ISIS Bride: Shamima Begum’s Journey
Begum, who grew up in Bethnal Green in London’s Tower Hamlets, travelled to Syria in 2015 when she was just 15.
Within ten days of arriving, she became the child bride of a Dutch Islamic convert. Her decision to join the terrorist group led the UK’s Conservative government to revoke her citizenship in 2019, rendering her stateless. Since then, Begum has repeatedly sought to return to the United Kingdom to reunite with her family.
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The Daily Express reporters located Begum at the Kurdish-run al-Roj camp, where she has been held since ISIS’s collapse. They described her arrival for the scheduled interview as guarded and reluctant.
Wearing a surgical mask that obscured most of her face, Begum’s “eyes were somewhat sunken,” and she appeared “pale, as well as very thin,” the journalists observed.
Shamima Begum’s First Public Appearance in Years
Begum had not made any public appearance since a controversial BBC documentary aired in 2023. At that time, she was accompanied by Hoda Muthana, an American who left the United States to join ISIS in 2014 and later surrendered to coalition forces in 2019. The latest interview was her first appearance since then.
According to reports, the interview was brief. After a moment of silence, Begum told reporters, “We don’t have anything to say,” before leaving the room with Muthana.
Shamima Begum’s Legal Battle to Return to the UK
Begum has been fighting to regain her citizenship. Earlier, the UK Supreme Court rejected her final appeal in August 2024. She, then, approached the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). They argue that British authorities failed to consider whether Begum was a victim of trafficking when they stripped her citizenship.
Her legal team issued a statement condemning the government’s stance, “It is a matter of the gravest concern that British women and children have been arbitrarily imprisoned in a Syrian camp for five years, all detained indefinitely without any prospect of a trial. All other countries in the UK’s position have intervened and achieved the return of their citizens and their children.”
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Zubair Amin is a Senior Journalist at NewsX with over seven years of experience in reporting and editorial work. He has written for leading national and international publications, including Foreign Policy Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Wire, Article 14, Mongabay, News9, among others. His primary focus is on international affairs, with a strong interest in US politics and policy. He also writes on West Asia, Indian polity, and constitutional issues. Zubair tweets at zubaiyr.amin
