Shamima Begum, a woman who ran away from the United Kingdom and married an ISIS terrorist, was reportedly moved from a refugee camp with her newborn child, according to a report on Feb. 28
A report from British tabloid The Sun, which quoted an anonymous source, said the 19-year-old woman left the Al-Hol camp in northern Syria out of fear of reprisals from others.
She took her son, Jerrah, named after an ancient Islamic warlord, with her, according to the report.
This undated photo issued by the Metropolitan Police shows Shamima Begum. A pregnant British teenager who ran away from Britain to join ISIS terrorists in Syria four years ago. She said on Feb. 14, 2018, she wants to come back to London, UK, with her child. (Metropolitan Police via AP)Begum’s lawyer Tasnime Akunjee confirmed to The Sun that she had left the camp “due to safety concerns around her and her baby.”
“We further understand that indeed she and her child had been threatened by others at the Al-Hol camp,” he said.
He also told The Mirror, another tabloid, that he doesn’t “know where she has been moved to but our understanding was that she had been moved,” adding that we “have not had any confirmation of this.”
“Shamima was threatened directly in the camp,” the source person told the Sun of her situation. “She is living in fear of her life. There is a bounty on her head. She felt she had no option but to move her and her child to have a chance of survival.”
Renu, the eldest sister of Shamima Begum, holds her sister’s photo whilst being interviewed by the media at New Scotland Yard, London, UK, on Feb. 22, 2015. (Laura Lean/PA Wire/Getty Images)The person said she has become somewhat famous after she conducted several interviews, saying she wanted to return to the United Kingdom. But British officials have said she cannot return and stripped her of her British citizenship
“Shamima has become something of a celebrity and is constantly looking over her shoulder, fearing brutal reprisals for daring to speak out about life with ISIS,” the person also said.
“She’s in misery, but only has herself to blame,” they added.
This is a still taken from CCTV issued by the Metropolitan Police in London on Monday Feb. 23, 2015, of 15-year-old Amira Abase, left, Kadiza Sultana,16, centre, and Shamima Begum, 15, going through Gatwick airport, south of London, before they caught their flight to Turkey on Tuesday Feb 17, 2015. (AP Photo/Metropolitan Police)A spokesperson for the UK Home Office told the Mirror they are not aware of her being moved or any threats.
How It Started
Begum ran away from her home in London in February 2015 when she was only 15. When she arrived in Raqqa, which was the ISIS “capital,” she married ISIS fighter Yago Riedijk days later.
She and Riedijk had three children together, including Jerrah. Her other two children died.
Kadiza Sultana, Amira Abase and Shamima Begum (L-R) in photos issued by police. (Metropolitan Police)Begum, now 19, gave a series of interviews expressing her wish to return to the UK but she showed little remorse, stirring massive public interest and backlash.
Begum had spoked to The Telegraph at the al-Hol camp in Syria, saying: “They are making an example of me. I regret speaking to the media. I wish I had stayed low and found a different way to contact my family. That’s why I spoke to the newspaper.”
Begum said she received better treatment at the camp due to the news coverage.
“They gave me my own tent,” she said. “They’re being a bit nice to me right now because I’m all over the news.”
The girl’s father, Ahmed Ali, who lives in Bangladesh, told AFP that “I don’t think that [to revoke Begum’s citizenship] was a right thing to do.”
“To err is human. You and I can both make a mistake. It is OK to commit an error, all humans do that. One feels sad if a child commits a mistake,” he said.
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