Shamima Begum’s Appeal Begins

The Special Immigration Appeals Commission will hear an appeal this week by Shamima Begum, one of the three Tower Hamlets schoolgirls, who travelled to Syria in February 2015. She challenges the Secretary of State’s decision to deprive her of her British citizenship. The decision was taken in February 2019, shortly after she emerged in the Al Hawl camp in northern Syria. An earlier challenge on preliminary issues reached the Supreme Court. Press coverage of the appeal is available on Sky News, ITV News, The Telegraph and The Independent. David Blundell KC represents the Secretary of State for the Home Department, led by Sir James Eadie KC.