Farage completely loses it over ‘outrageous’ Shamima Begum decision | Politics | News
Nigel Farage has condemned the European Court of Human Rights for its “outrageous” intervention in the case of ISIS bride Shamima Begum. The reform leader was speaking after the Daily Express revealed that the Strasbourg-based court had told the UK Home Office that it must justify its decision to formally strip the Islamic State fanatic of his citizenship.
Born in London, Ms Begum went to Syria at the age of 15 and joined the terrorist organization Islamic State (ISIS) in 2015. She later married convert Yago Riedijk and saw her citizenship revoked by the then Conservative Home Secretary Sajid Javid in 2019.
But the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) suggested it had concerns that the Home Office was using the threat of depriving people of their citizenship as a “punishment” in some cases, and asked the British Government whether it had “duties or obligations” towards Begum as a possible “victim of human trafficking”.
Speaking exclusively to the Express today, Nigel Farage launched a scathing attack on the court, saying: “It is outrageous that such a major decision in the national interest can be made in the ECHR; it shows why we should leave.”
And he targeted Begum, saying: “She must not be allowed to return.”
Ms Begum, who lost a series of appeals in the UK, now lives in the Syrian al-Roj detention camp, which is home to thousands of former jihadists. The surprising intervention of the European Court has once again sparked a fierce debate over whether a foreign court should have any jurisdiction over English law.
The Home Office said the Government “will always protect the UK and its citizens”, while a spokesman added that Shamima Begum “poses a national security threat”, so her “British citizenship has been revoked and she cannot return to the UK”.
They added: “We will strongly defend any decision taken to protect our national security.”
Yesterday, the Daily Express reported that Ms Begum’s lawyers described the ECHR’s move as an “unprecedented opportunity”.
Communication between the court and the Home Office will ring alarm bells that the ISIS bride could be allowed to re-enter the UK, despite successive governments stating they would not restore her citizenship.
The decision to revoke former Conservative Home Secretary Sajid Javid’s citizenship has been approved by the UK Supreme Court. However, the ECHR’s decision to intervene was welcomed by Begüm’s lawyers.
The ECHR asked the question: “Was deprivation of citizenship akin to criminal prosecution? Was it a ‘penalty’ within the meaning of Article 26 of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings?”
They also asked the Home Office: “In terms of the Article 4 complaints made in the application, was the applicant within the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom within the meaning of Article 1 of the Convention at all relevant times?”
And the authorities were asked: “Does the decision of the Secretary of State responsible for the Home Office to deprive the applicant of citizenship violate his rights under Article 4 of the Convention?
“Did the Secretary of State have a positive obligation under Article 4 of the Convention to consider whether the applicant was a victim of trafficking and whether any duties or obligations arose on him before deciding to deprive him of his nationality?”
