ISIS bride Shamima Begum has ditched her traditional Islamic attire for Western duds in her Syrian refugee camp – she looks more like a British tourist in the colors, a striped T-shirt and a zip-up sweater.
The 21-year-old’s ensemble in Al Roj camp contrasted sharply with the black niqab she was wearing when she was found in 2019, when she expressed support for the terror group.
Begum is detained in detention camp after the British Supreme Court unanimously rejected her request to return to Britain.
She shook hands with the Telegraph on Sunday, but politely declined to be interviewed, citing legal advice, even though she agreed to be photographed.
Begum was only 15 when she and two other schoolgirls from London traveled to Syria to join the jihadists.
Her citizenship was revoked in 2019 for national security reasons. The other two are believed to have died in the fighting.
She has lost three children born in the years since, the last boy born in 2019 after marrying an ISIS fighter from the Netherlands. That year, she told Sky News that her first two children died ‘from illness’ in a camp.
On Monday, a lawyer for her family accused Britain of racism over her treatment, calling her a “tragic scapegoat.”
What Happened to Christian Forgiveness? Isn’t it true for a woman – and then for a dark complexion? It seems different rules apply, ”attorney Tasnime Akunjee and sculptor Anish Kapoor said in a joint statement, Agence France-Presse reported.
‘Could it be that some of us are more British than others? Shamima is of Bengali descent, does that change her right to British citizenship? ” they said.
“I’m inclined to think this is the case, especially in light of the Supreme Court’s judgment,” the two added.
Kapoor – best known for his conceptual art installations – and Akunjee called the UK’s position “an outrageous indictment of our national conscience”, suggesting that “four young white schoolgirls” from a less ethnically diverse area outside London would “undoubtedly” be different treated. .
“This is ‘divide and conquer’, the horror that perpetuated the British Empire for 200 years. Have we relapsed to practice this in our own field now? ” they asked.
Eight other British women also declined interviews with the Telegraph on Sunday, several citing legal advice.
Camp manager Nora Abdo said the British women in the camp routinely turn down media requests based on legal advice, adding that they are good and don’t cause problems.
Abdo told the news channel that some women in the camp have rejected extremist ideology.
“We’ve noticed the change in their clothes,” she said. ‘They want to come home. They say they are willing to pay the penalty for their crimes. Some think about the future for their children. “