The CCTV images of the three teenage girls Shamima Begum, Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase passing through Gatwick airport four years ago en route to join the Islamic State “caliphate” were shocking for much of the British public. The university flagged the text as an extremist piece of work that should only be read in a secure setting. Her family have offered to raise the child, away from the ideology that has characterised her four years abroad. Rendering Begum stateless would simply allow her recruiters to cast the British state in disparaging terms. Treating at-risk young people as individual cases and doing so with compassion – starting with Begum – has to offer a better way forward.

Source: The Guardian February 18, 2019 19:41 UTC