Britain Strips Citizenship from Teenager who Joined ISIS in Syria

The fate of Shamima Begum, who was found in a detention camp in Syria last week, has illustrated the ethical, legal and security conundrum that governments face when dealing with the families of militants who swore to destroy the West.

With Islamic State depleted and Kurdish-led militia poised to seize the group's last holdout in eastern Syria, Western capitals are trying to work out what to do with battle-hardened foreign jihadist fighters, and their wives and children.

Begum, who gave birth to a son at the weekend, prompted a public backlash in Britain by appearing unrepentant about seeing severed heads and even claiming the 2017 Manchester suicide attack - that killed 22 people - was justified.

She had pleaded to be repatriated back to her family in London and said that she was not a threat.

But ITV News published a Feb. 19 letter from the interior ministry to her mother that said Home Secretary Sajid Javid had taken the decision to deprive Begum of her British citizenship.

"In light of the circumstances of your daughter, the notice of the Home Secretary's decision has been served of file today, and the order removing her British citizenship has subsequently been made," the letter said.

The letter asked Begum's mother to inform her daughter of the decision and set out the appeal process.

When asked about the decision, a spokesman said Javid's priority was "the safety and security of Britain and the people who live here".

Begum was one of three outwardly studious schoolgirls who slipped away from their lives in London's Bethnal Green area in February 2015 to fly to Turkey and then over the border into the cauldron of the Syrian civil war.

REUTERS