The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has formally questioned the UK government over its controversial 2019 decision to revoke the British citizenship of Shamima Begum. This significant intervention centres on whether authorities adequately considered if Begum was a victim of child trafficking before making the move to strip her of her nationality.
Legal Challenge Under Human Rights Convention
Begum, now 26, is challenging the decision made by the then Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, through the European court. Her legal team at Birnberg Peirce Solicitors lodged the case in December 2024, after the UK Supreme Court denied her the chance to appeal domestically.
The challenge is being brought under Article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits slavery and forced labour. In a document published this month, judges in Strasbourg have posed a series of pointed questions to the Home Office.
Key Questions from Strasbourg
The central query from the ECHR asks: "Did the secretary of state have a positive obligation, by virtue of article 4 of the convention, to consider whether the applicant had been a victim of trafficking and whether any duties or obligations to her flowed from that fact, before deciding to deprive her of her citizenship?"
Begum's lawyers argue she was a victim of child trafficking when, at the age of 15, she left her east London home in 2015 to travel to territory controlled by Islamic State (IS). There, she was reportedly "married off" to an IS fighter and had three children, all of whom died in infancy.
Gareth Peirce, one of Begum's solicitors, stated it is "impossible to dispute" that a 15-year-old British child was "lured, encouraged and deceived for the purposes of sexual exploitation." She highlighted a "catalogue of failures" to protect a child known to be at high risk.
Political Backlash and Government Stance
The court's involvement has ignited a fierce political reaction in the UK. Conservative and Reform UK figures have accused the Strasbourg court of meddling and renewed calls for Britain to leave the European human rights treaty.
Reform's deputy leader, Richard Tice, posted on X that the "ECHR can jog on....none of their business …just another reason why we must leave this foreign court." Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said Begum had "no place" in the UK due to her past support for violent extremists.
The Home Office remains resolute. A spokesperson said: "The government will always protect the UK and its citizens. That is why Shamima Begum – who posed a national security threat – had her British citizenship revoked and is unable to return to the UK." They added that any decision to protect national security would be robustly defended.
Begum, currently stateless in a Syrian refugee camp, continues her legal fight. Her lawyers see the ECHR's communication as an "unprecedented opportunity" for the UK to finally address the trafficking issues they claim have been "ignored, sidestepped or violated" by previous administrations.
