Shamina Begum: Let Her Come Back.

She was born and raised in the UK. She was at school here. She was on the radar of the authorities as one at risk from radicalisation. At the age of fifteen she succumbed to the blandishments of IS and joined a bloodthirsty movement which promised heaven knows what. It is now confined to a few hundred square yards, all that is left of its short lived territorial empire, and Shamina is holed up in a refugee camp where she has given birth to her third child, two having already died. Her husband has been taken prisoner and his fate is unknown. Somehow she was found by the Times. The rest you know.

However tempting it may be to banish this girl and her baby by depriving her of citizenship, it is the wrong move. This country has to take responsibility for its actions even when, especially when, they go wrong. And nobody can deny that it has a responsibility for bringing up its citizens in partnership with parents, educators and others, nor that in this case, for whatever reason, it failed. It is clearly the fault of many including the child, but in an adult world she is the junior partner.

Without citizenship where is she to go? How can we be sure it is not the wrong place? Not just for her but for us too?There is absolutely no doubt in the mind of this blog that she should be brought back, prosecuted and punished for whatever crimes she has committed and then rehabilitated into society as a fully paid up and contributing member. She is still only nineteen, her life is ahead of her and her baby is entirely innocent by any rational measure. Moreover she will for certain become an invaluable resource in combating radicalisation of impressionable children in our country in the future, not least because by then she will understand that, with all its enlightenment and benefit, our country is hers too.