IS teen shocked citizenship revoked

A British teenager who joined the Islamic State group in Syria in 2015 is shocked by a government decision to revoke her citizenship.

Shamima Begum, who now wants to return home after giving birth in a refugee camp in Syria last weekend, said the order was unjust.

“I am a bit shocked,” she said after learning of the move which was announced in a letter on Tuesday from Britain's interior ministry to her mother in London.

“I feel like it's a bit unjust on me and my son.”

Begum's fate has stirred controversy since she and two friends fled her east London home to join the terror network four years ago when she was just 15.

The case highlights a dilemma facing many European countries, divided over whether to allow jihadists and IS sympathisers home to face prosecution or barring them over security concerns as the so-called caliphate crumbles.

A spokeswoman for the interior ministry said on Tuesday it would not comment on individual cases, “but any decisions to deprive individuals of their citizenship are based on all available evidence and not taken lightly”.

“To protect this country, he has the power to deprive someone of their British citizenship where it would not render them stateless.”

Begum gave birth to her third child at the weekend.