Friday 26 February 2021. The UK’s highest court today ordered that Shamima Begum, who left the Britain to join Islamic State group in Syria as a 15-year-old teenager, cannot return and fight her citizenship case.
The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that her rights were not
breached when she was refused permission to return, overturning a previous
Appeal Court decision.
Ms Begum, 21, wants to return to the UK to challenge the Home
Secretary's decision to strip her of citizenship and revoke her British
nationality.
She was 15 when she and two other east London schoolgirls left
their home in February 2015 and travelled to Syria to join IS where she married
a freedom fighter and had three children. She now lives in a camp controlled by
armed guards in northern Syria, but her children have since died.
The then-Home Secretary Sajid Javid revoked her citizenship
on national security grounds in 2019, effectively leaving the teenager
stateless.
In 2020, the Court of Appeal ruled to allow her into
the UK to appeal against the decision, on grounds that she could not
effectively do so from the camp in northern Syria.
The Home Office subsequently appealed to the Supreme Court,
arguing that allowing her to return to the UK "would create
significant national security risks".
Lord Reed, president of the Supreme Court, said the
government had been entitled to prevent Ms Begum from returning to the UK.
Announcing
the ruling, Lord Reed said: "The Supreme Court unanimously allows all
of the home secretary's appeals and dismisses Ms Begum's cross-appeal."
He said the Court of Appeal's judgment "did not give
the home secretary's assessment the respect which it should have received"
given the role's "responsibility for making such assessments" and
accountability to parliament.
Lord Reed added the Court of Appeal had "mistakenly
believed that, when an individual's right to have a fair hearing... came into
conflict with the requirements of national security, her right to a fair
hearing must prevail."
He said the right to a fair hearing did "not trump all
other considerations, such as the safety of the public".
She now remains in citizenship limbo, with no right to
return to the UK under the law.
Home Secretary Priti Patel told the BBC the Supreme Court's
judgement had "reaffirmed the Home Secretary's authority to make vital
national security decisions".
She added: "The government will always take the
strongest possible action to protect our national security and our priority
remains maintaining the safety and security of our citizens."
UK citizenship
Citizenship grants the right of citizens to live in a
country.
UK citizens have rights to things like welfare benefits, free
education and healthcare, as well as the right to vote in elections.
You can gain the right to British citizenship if:
·
you or your parents are born in the UK
·
you legally live in the UK for a period of time,
normally five years
·
marry a British citizen and have been in the UK
for three years
Unlike people born in the United States, being born in the
UK does not give you the right to citizenship. In the year to the end of March
2020, 163,624 people were granted
British citizenship.
The UK allows dual nationality or for people to be citizens
of more than one country.
How can you lose UK citizenship?
In the UK, a person can have their citizenship revoked, for
the following:
·
Where t is deemed to be "for the public
good" and would not make them stateless
·
The person obtained citizenship through fraud
·
Their actions could harm UK interests and they
can claim citizenship elsewhere
Ms Begum was stripped of UK citizenship for the public good
reason.
Although the UK has responsibilities under international law
to avoid people being left stateless, in February 2020, a tribunal ruled that
removing Ms Begum's citizenship was lawful because she was "a citizen of
Bangladesh by descent" though her parents. However, Bangladesh claimed she
would not be allowed into the country.
In most cases, the removal of citizenship, unlike revoking
residency, involves serious threats to national security, such as terrorism or
serious organised crime. British citizens can also have their passports taken
away.
Uber Drivers are “NOT self-employed, Supreme Court Rules
In another Supreme Court case it was ruled that Uber drivers
are not self-employed, which could have far reaching repercussions for the GIG
economy and taxation of businesses which “employ” staff on “self-employed”
basis.
As Boris Johnson announces a ‘Roadmap’
out of Lockdown, the UK vaccination programme points to an economic
bounce back this summer.
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