Jihadi bride Shamima Begum wants to return to UK, says she does not need rehabilitation
The 21-year-old Begum, who left Britain to join Islamic State when she was 15 in 2015, remains in the camp stripped of her UK citizenship.
The jihadi bride Shamima Begum has insisted she does not need to be rehabilitated and wants to get back to her home in the UK. In fact, she would 'love' to help rehabilitate others.
The 21-year-old Begum, who left Britain to join Islamic State when she was 15 in 2015, remains in the camp stripped of her UK citizenship.
In her latest interview there, she told Daily Mail, "I don't think I was a terrorist. I think I was just a dumb kid who made one mistake. I personally don't think that I need to be rehabilitated, but I would want to help other people be rehabilitated. I would love to help."
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Explaining why she had stopped wearing her traditional Islamic dress, she said, "I wear these clothes, and I don't wear a hijab, because it makes me happy. And anything in this camp that makes me happy is like a lifesaver."
Begum married a Dutch extremist after fleeing her home in Bethnal Green with two other schoolgirls to go to Syria. Before she came to al-Roj, she had three children, all of whom died of sickness or hunger. Her husband is said to be imprisoned in a Syrian jail administered by Kurds.
On national security concerns, the Supreme Court decided earlier this year that she could not return to the United Kingdom to contest her citizenship being revoked in 2019.
Asked what she would say to those in the UK who do not want her to return, Begum said, "Can I come home please, pretty please?"
