Ex-IS bride loses appeal to have her UK citizenship restored

By DANICA KIRKA
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — A British woman whose U.K. citizenship was revoked after she traveled to Syria to join the so-called Islamic State group has lost an appeal in her fight to restore her citizenship. Shamima Begum was 15 years old when she and two other girls from London joined the extremist group in February 2015. Authorities withdrew her British citizenship on national security grounds soon after she was found in a Syria refugee camp in 2019. Begum, now 23, argued that she should have been treated as a child trafficking victim, not a security risk. A special tribunal which hears challenges to decisions to remove someone’s British citizenship on national security grounds dismissed Begum’s challenge on Wednesday.