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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Shamima Begum....where do you stand?

999 replies

LeahSMS · 26/09/2019 10:50

What are your thoughts?

AIBU to think she was only a child but unfortunately she’s now considered as a threat so therefore she will never return it’s not only about her safety but the people around her?

Tell me your thoughts

OP posts:
DarlingNikita · 26/09/2019 14:41

BritWifeinUSA in the cases of Greta Thunberg and other young climate activists, they get their evidence from leading climate scientists, who know more about it than world leaders.

It's also worth saying that the background and upbringing of someone like Greta Thunberg (supported, educated, secure) is in stark contrast to Begum's.

ToPlanZ · 26/09/2019 14:43

She should be brought back and tried by the judiciary. Not by the media or opinion poll.

Far more Muslims were killed by ISIS than any other group. She's not Syrian, why should the poor people of Syria who've already had a horrific war to cope with have to deal with something that we as a country are far more equipped to deal with for one of our own citizens?

Are we saying their lives are worth less than ours in the West? If not why would we burden them with Begum.

We need to deal with our own criminals.

Goodlookingcreature · 26/09/2019 14:45

She’s a terrorist scumbag, you reap what you sow and I hope the grass was greener for her in Syria.

She should never be allowed so much as breathe European air again.

Katex888 · 26/09/2019 14:49

Yes because the European air is so delightful, calling a teenage groomed girl a scumbag is awful. How would you feel if your daughter was groomed by lunatics online?

Wellhelloxx11xx · 26/09/2019 14:51

She should never be allowed so much as breathe European air again

Honestly these responses come across as quite thick. I want her in prison but why should another country be forced to deal with her?? She has no citizenship of any other county & was born here.

I mean I hate Ian Huntley, does that mean we get to revoke his citizenship?

VictoriaBun · 26/09/2019 14:51

No sympathy from me.

InsertFunnyUsername · 26/09/2019 14:57

She is a scumbag.

I do think if she presents herself then we should assist her. But I do not support trying to rescue her, or using any resources retrieving her. If she was only a child when managing to fly around the world to become a part of a terrorist organisation, recruiting others, admitting she wasn't bothered by the things she saw, then I'm sure she can handle this by herself and doesn't need anyones sympathy.

smemorata · 26/09/2019 15:01

She should return and be dealt with by the British courts if there's a case to answer.
This. Also plenty of male ISIS supporters who are arguably much more of a risk have been allowed back with no fuss at all. Funny that.

SuzieQ10 · 26/09/2019 15:07

Only a child... carrying a rifle, stitching up vests for suicide bombers.. converting other terrorists. Doesn't sound like innocent child behaviour or actions to me.
No UK resources should be used trying to 'rescue' her or assist her. If she is trialled for her criminal actions, it should be where she's committed them.

conderellainyellakissedafella · 26/09/2019 15:10

I feel sorry for her baby as he didn't ask for any of this crap. I have no time for her though. She knew what she was getting into.

StealthPolarBear · 26/09/2019 15:14

"I mean I hate Ian Huntley, does that mean we get to revoke his citizenship?"
I'd love someone to actually answer this

GettingABitDesperateNow · 26/09/2019 15:15

She was a child when she went over there. It is over the age of criminal responsibility however when other teenagers commit criminal offences, they are tried in the UK courts and punished appropriately and that does normally mean taking into account their age, not naming them, and rehabilitating them - I dont know of anyone in the UK that has been punished for the rest of their life for something they did when they were 15, arguably under the influence of someone else.

I don't know why people think the law shouldn't apply when it comes to how the UK deal with her. Surely there needs to be a trial where people can assess the evidence, and a punishment decided by the courts. There are far worse crimes committed by adults abroad where we take them back and punish them in the UK (eg paedophiles visiting the far east and abusing numerous children) and indeed grown men who have fought for ISIS.

As far as I understand it, UK and international law is that someones citizenship cannot be revoked unless they have another citizenship. It is against international law to make someone stateless. In Sabia's case she has not been accepted by another county as a citizen, and why should they? Why would or why should any country accept someone who another country has chucked out?

In my opinion they should let her come back

Samcro · 26/09/2019 15:16

leave her there. or let her make her own way back.
nobody should be put at risk to "rescue" her.

Topseyt · 26/09/2019 15:17

I did begin with some sympathy for her a year or two ago when she first hit the media and all of her babies had died. Quite a lot of it has ebbed away now though and I do view her with deep suspicion.

15 year olds are still very childish and impressionable. Part of me wants to believe that she was a radicalised child who should be de-radicalised on a programme for that sort of thing, and given the chance to make good. In practice, I am not sure that isn't wishful thinking on my part and pie in the sky.

Bringing her back is just too much of a risk and would tie up huge security services resources just to watch her.

I'm afraid she will have to stay where she is.

Minai · 26/09/2019 15:19

I feel very sorry for her. I feel incredibly sorry for anyone who has lost 3 children in the space of a couple of years. Her pain must be unbearable. She was a child when she left and I don’t believe she fully understood what she was doing. She’s been made an example of. Hundreds of men have come back to the uk after joining isis in Syria and it’s barely been mentioned in the media. I’m not saying just let her back with no further action, I would want her to be highly monitored but she should be allowed to come back to the uk.

Goodlookingcreature · 26/09/2019 15:21

Yes because the European air is so delightful, calling a teenage groomed girl a scumbag is awful. How would you feel if your daughter was groomed by lunatics online?*

Depends, is my daughter a murdering terrorist scumbag

UnoriginalUserName948 · 26/09/2019 15:21

Unpopular opinion: She was raised in Britain, radicalised while here, and it is Britains' responsibility to deal with her. Syria has enough problems to deal with without taking responsibility for foreign terrorist supporters, Bangladesh had literally nothing to do with any of this, and Britain has to take some responsibility for her (not for her actions, but for her as a citizen) rather than washing their hands of her. If she can safely come back (ie, nobody risks their lives rescuing her) to face whatever consequences they give to people who travel to join ISIS, then she should be allowed to.
That's not to say I condone her actions or think she should be welcomed back with open arms because I don't.

DarlingNikita · 26/09/2019 15:24

Only a child... carrying a rifle, stitching up vests for suicide bombers.. converting other terrorists. Doesn't sound like innocent child behaviour or actions to me.
Well, I think that's kind of the point; anyone behaving like this has – tragically –had their childhood innocence stolen.

Depends, is my daughter a murdering terrorist scumbag
I think the point is, if she had been groomed by lunatics online she might well be.

UnoriginalUserName948 · 26/09/2019 15:24

Also, keeping all the lunatic terrorists and their supporters in a war torn, highly volatile unstable country indefinitely is not a good idea, either.

greeentopmilk · 26/09/2019 15:25

She should be left where she is to deal with the severity of her decisions.

I have no sympathy whatsoever for anybody supporting and working with terrorists.

I feel for her babies being born in and dying so young in that environment, they didn't ask for that. But she knew what she was doing when she made the choice to do what she did.

Samcro · 26/09/2019 15:28

i aways wonder who people want to "bring her back" who will you give that job too?

VapeVamp12 · 26/09/2019 15:28

I don't think there should be any grey areas when it comes to terrorism and ISIS.

If you join or go against the UK in this way, there should be no way back. Unless its life in prison.

UnoriginalUserName948 · 26/09/2019 15:30

Why can't other Islamic countries take these people in? Surely that would be best as they would have shared religious values

Now isn't that a nice ignorant comment. Muslims have suffered more than anybody from Islamic terrorism. Not only have Islamic countries been torn apart by terrorism, Western muslims have been abused, vilified and attacked for belonging to the same religion that ISIS claims to be part of. Real Islamic values do not condemn the sort of shit that ISIS is pulling, and that's not to say that there are parts of Islam that can't be criticised- because of course there are- but come on, now.

Pinkyyy · 26/09/2019 15:31

I wouldn't want her anywhere near me. She's dangerous.

The way she talks about utterly gruesome things (like severed heads) without any emotion leads me to think that she could well be a psychopath.

GettingABitDesperateNow · 26/09/2019 15:31

Did she know what she was doing though? Not many children of 15 are mature enough to realise they are being manipulated and groomed and that everything they are being fed is bullshit. If you have been brought up with a certain set of beliefs it is extremely difficult for anyone especially a child, to see past this. If you have been brought up to believe that fighting for your religion is acceptable, how are you supposed to know 'right' from 'wrong'?