Though Shamima Begum described life as an ISIS member as “normal,” she also said it was exactly like what the propaganda videos depicted — and that decapitations didn’t bother her.
London Metropolitan Police15 - year - old Shamima Begum in Gatwick Airport , 2015 .
Shamima Begum left her abode in Britain to join ISIS in Syria when she was a teenager in 2015 . Together with two of her classmates , the young daughter was recently regain in a refugee bivouac by UK newspaperThe Times .
Begum is now nine month pregnant and wants to arrive home . The 19 - yr - old tell she “ just want to come home to have my shaver , ” and that while she has no regrets over joining the Islamic terrorist group , “ the caliphate is over . ”
London Metropolitan Police15-year-old Shamima Begum in Gatwick Airport, 2015.
The upcoming vaginal birth wo n’t be Begum ’s first , CNNreports , as Begum has had two other children during her prison term in Syria , who perish from unwellness and malnutrition .
As for her desire to come back to England , the incite factor are fundamentally comprise of having a sizable environment for her kid and an admission that her stay in Syria is no longer worth it . She fled the caliphate ’s last base in the village of Baghouz two week ago .
“ They ’re just getting small and pocket-size and there ’s so much subjugation and depravation choke on that I do n’t really think they merit triumph , ” she explained .
Wikimedia CommonsThe flag of the Islamic State terrorist organization.
Wikimedia CommonsThe flag of the Islamic State terrorist organisation .
Begum ’s 27 - twelvemonth - old hubby fought for ISIS but surrendered to US - backed Syrian troops a few weeks ago . She has n’t seen or heard from him since .
“ In the end , I just could not endure any more , ” she pronounce . “ I just could n’t take it . Now all I want to do is amount home to Britain . ”
Wikimedia CommonsISIS fighters return to Raqqa, Syria in 2014.
As far as the repercussion Begum will have to look — as a Brit who flee Europe to join ISIS and is now plead for help in garnering safe passage back — she ’s well aware of “ what everyone at home consider of me as I have read all that was written about me online . ”
“ But I just desire to come home to have my tike , ” she said . “ I ’ll do anything required just to be able to come home and last quietly with my child . ”
Life For Shamima Begum Under ISIS
Wikimedia CommonsISIS fighters devolve to Raqqa , Syria in 2014 .
The teenage girl leave Gatwick Airport with Bethnal Green Academy schoolfellow Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase in February 2015 . The plan was to meet a friend of theirs who had traveled to Syria a few months earlier . When they got to Raqqa , however , they were detained under suspicion of being spies .
Shortly after , Begum was separated from her friends and placed in a “ sign of the zodiac for woman , ” where she apply to “ get hitched with an English - utter hero between 20 and 25 years old . ” Whether this process was voluntary or not is unreadable .
Wikimedia CommonsRaqqa, after severe U.S. bombings in 2017.
10 Day later , she was formally we d to Dutch national Yago Riedijk . The other three miss reportedly also wed foreign - born ISIS fighters , pointing toward an established system in home for these character of non - Islamic expatriate .
Begum said the first few age with ISIS were largely superposable to what she ’s seen in the propaganda telecasting , yet described that time as “ normal life , ” suggest substantial detachment from Western norms most of her UK - based compatriot would specify as normal .
“ When I see my first severed head in a bin it did n’t faze me at all , ” she said . “ It was from a appropriate fighter seized on the battlefield , an enemy of Islam . ”
Wikimedia CommonsSurrendered ISIS fighters who turned themselves in to Afghan force in 2018.
Wikimedia CommonsRaqqa , after severe U.S. bombings in 2017 .
Shamima Begum and her married man go away Raqqa in other 2017 , travel along the Euphrates vale while Syrian Democratic Forces ( SDF ) were on their heel . Eventually , the arrived in Baghouz .
Sultana was reportedly killed in an airstrike in 2016 .
Shamima Begum in northern Syria in 2019.
After Begum and her husband were separate , she leave the wagon train of remaining ISIS fighters she sense were destine to decease , admit she felt “ weak ” for doing so , and that she “ saluted ” those who stayed . As it stands , she ’s now in a refugee bivouac comprised of 39,000 the great unwashed in al - Hawl , in northern Syria .
Begum did hear some bright news from women in the camp that her two other classmates were alive and well in Baghouz — “ But with all the bombardment , I am not sure whether they have survive , ” she said .
Will She Be Allowed Back In?
In the oddment , all Begum has on her nous is getting out of Syria live — how the UK government will receive those plea is not as clear .
Wikimedia CommonsSurrendered Inter-Services Intelligence fighters who become themselves in to Afghan force in 2018 .
UK security measure minister Ben Wallace latterly stated on BBC ’s Radio 4 that “ action have consequences , ” in reference to the UK Home Office ’s strict laws for citizen hoping to come back home after traveling to terrorist hotspots .
He said that nationals who require to retort should be “ disposed to be questioned , investigated and potentially prosecuted for committed terrorist offense . ”
“ We recognize that there are child require in this who had no choice about being out there , but finally what we have to do is protect the public , ” he tell . “ hoi polloi who went out there often as amateurs are now professional terrorists or professional jockstrap of terrorist act , and we have to make trusted we extenuate that threat should they add up back . ”
Shamima Begum in northerly Syria in 2019 .
Ultimately , Shamima Begum ’s bureaucratic journey back home has only just begun .
With some analysts and authorities cheer the government to consider masses like Begum victims — and others reminding them that the girl herself seems to have been poisoned by ISIS ’ uncivilised violence — the push and pull between opposing strategy will have to be meted out in courtyard .
After read about Shamima Begum , the British teen who connect ISIS and now desperately wants to come home , read about theBritish touchwood cradle turned ISIS recruiter . Then , learn about a British Moslem stripling being defeat andstuffed into a icebox .
