ISIS bride Shamima Begum flees from Syrian refugee camp with newborn after a bounty is placed on her head
ISIS bride Shamima Begum has had to flee her refugee camp in Al-Hawl after she received death threats due to her constant presence on media asking for the UK to allow her to return. She has been moved to a new camp close to the Iraqi border.
According to The Sun, after the 19-year-old gave a series of interviews complaining about her treatment in the Al-Hol camp in northern Syria and became a "celebrity," the other jihadi wives were angered at her seemingly disgracing their cause. They subsequently put a price tag on her head, resulting in her and her newborn son, Jerah, being moved to the Al-Roj refugee base.
Her lawyer Tasnime Akunjee confirmed the move and said, "I can confirm that it is our understanding that Shamima has been moved from Al-Hol due to safety concerns around her and her baby. We further understand that indeed she and her child had been threatened by others at the Al-Hol camp." Another source confirmed that the 19-year-old had been "threatened directly" at Al-Hol. She said the ISIS bride was "living in fear of her life" and that she felt no choice but to flee as there was a "bounty on her head."
"Shamima has become something of a celebrity and is constantly looking over her shoulder, fearing brutal reprisals for daring to speak out about life with ISIS," the source said, adding, "She’s in misery, but only has herself to blame."
Shamima left the UK in February 2015, aged 15, to join ISIS in Syria. Ten days after arriving in Syria, she married Dutch-born ISIS terrorist Yago Riedijk and gave birth to two children, both of who died. The birth of Jerah this past month prompted her to express she wanted to return to the UK for the safety of her son, sparking furious debate.
Exclusive: a shooting range in Wallasey defends using images of Shamima Begum as target practice because of a ‘record number of requests’ from its customers. It allows people ‘to have some light-hearted fun bringing out the inner child in all” they tell us. More at 10am pic.twitter.com/AzYlhY1ne6
— Victoria Derbyshire (@vicderbyshire) February 27, 2019
Her plea was not helped by the fact that, during an interview with The Times, she expressed practically no regret for joining the terrorist organization and said she had been "unfazed" even after witnessing the beheading of a man as he was "an enemy of Islam."
British Home Secretary Sajid Javid stripped her of British citizenship after being advised that she was eligible for Bangladeshi citizenship through her mother, reported the Daily Mail. However, after Bangladeshi authorities announced that she would not be allowed into the country, the 19-year-old has been left in limbo.
Her father, Ahmed Ali, criticized the decision to revoke her of her citizenship, arguing she should have been brought back and punished for her crimes instead. "I don't think he's (Sajid Javid) done the right thing because she is a British citizen, and if it turns out she has committed any crimes, then she should face justice in the UK," he said. "She belongs to this country, she belongs to England. My daughter was a little child, she made a mistake, she didn't properly understand."
