Woman who joined ISIS as a teenager can return home to U.K. to fight for citizenship, court rules

A woman who was 15 when she left home to join the Islamic State militant group in Syria should be allowed to return to the United Kingdom to challenge the removal of her British citizenship, judges in London ruled Thursday, NBC reports.

Shamima Begum, 20, is one of three British schoolgirls who together left their lives in east London in 2015 to travel to join ISIS terror group (banned in Russia) in Syria. Her fate was largely unknown until she was found in February last year by the British newspaper, The Times, in a Syrian refugee camp.

Shortly afterward, her British citizenship was revoked on national security grounds.

However, three judges from England’s Court of Appeal unanimously agreed Thursday that the only way Begum would be able to have a fair and effective appeal of that decision would be if she was to be permitted to come back to the U.K.

“Fairness and justice must, on the facts of this case, outweigh the national security concerns, so that the LTE [Leave to Enter] appeals should be allowed,” Lord Justice Julian Flaux wrote in the judgment.

The judgment appears to mean that the British government must now find a way for Begum to return to the U.K. to challenge its decision in court.

A spokesperson for Britain’s Home Office described the court's decision as “very disappointing.”

“We will now apply for permission to appeal this judgment, and to stay its effects pending any onward appeal,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “The government’s top priority remains maintaining our national security and keeping the public safe.”