UK Faces Influx of ‘ISIS Brides’ As At Least 12 More Surface In Refugee Camps

Ever since remorseless jihadi bride Shamima Begum began her campaign to be allowed back into Britain after fleeing the toppling ISIS “caliphate,” it has emerged that at least a dozen more British jihadi women may similarly seek re-entry to the UK.

About twelve women, as per multiple reports, are said to reside at the same refugee camp in northern Syria that is housing Begum after fleeing a losing battle against Western allies’ push to break the jihadi grip on Baghuz, the ISIS terrorist group’s final stronghold in the region.

British authorities now face the issue of female jihadi extremists pleading to be let back into Britain.

The BBC’s Middle East correspondent, Quentin Sommerville, who interviewed Begum shortly after she gave birth to a son, revealed the wave of British female jihadi arrivals at the camp.

“This whole issue of what to do with these IS women and other IS supporters isn’t going to go away,” he said, referring to the wives of ISIS fighters.

“We know that in the last week alone, 12 British women have arrived at displacement camps here in northern Syria. So for the British Government, this headache of what to do doesn’t end with Shamima Begum.”

Lord Carlile QC was cited by the Daily Mail as saying that while Britain has a strong case to block Begum from re-entry, she could use her newborn son to try and circumvent the move. He added that the case of Begum—and by extension other ISIS would-be returnees—is likely to be a headache for British authorities for some time to come.

“This is going to drag on for months or even years,” Lord Carlile said.

Shamima Begum in a surveillance photo provided by police. Metropolitan Police

Fierce Opposition

Begum’s pleas to be allowed back into the UK after spending four years as an ISIS acolyte and self-admitted recruitment “poster girl,” has sparked fierce debate over whether she and others like her should be blocked on grounds of posing a security threat.

She herself insisted she was “just a housewife” and said there was no evidence of her “doing anything dangerous.”

Security experts like British intelligence service head Alex Younger have warned, however, that would-be returnees like Begum were “potentially very dangerous” because having been in “that sort of position” people like her were likely to have acquired certain “skills or connections.”

Home Secretary Sajid Javid said he “will not hesitate” to block the return of Begum—or other ISIS supporters—adding that those who do manage to make their way back to Britain should be prepared to be “investigated and potentially prosecuted.”

“We must remember that those who left Britain to join Daesh were full of hate for our country,” he said, referring to an Arabic acronym for the terrorist group, Sky News reported. “My message is clear—if you have supported terrorist organizations abroad I will not hesitate to prevent your return.”

UK authorities announced on Feb. 19 that they had moved to strip her of British citizenship, effectively blocking her re-entry.

Survivors and other victims of the murderous cult’s reign of terror, meanwhile, are furious at the prospect of ISIS women getting a sympathetic hearing in the Western press, or worse—a free pass.

‘Just Housewives’

Ali Y. Al-Baroodi, who survived ISIS’s bloody occupation of Mosul, told the Jerusalem Post that claims on the part of jihadi brides that they were “just housewives,” as Begum has so insisted, are simply false.

“It was hell on Earth and every single one of them made it so,” he said, asking sarcastically if perhaps local victims of the jihadi women should “apologize for disturbing their stay there.”

“[ISIS] demolished cities and hundreds of mass graves, [and left] thousands of orphans and widows,” he added.

“It’s impossible to muster sympathy for her,“ author and academic Idrees Ahmad wrote in reference to Begum, according to the Post. ”She went to Syria as a colonizer, several months after ISIS beheaded journalists and aid workers.”

Murad Ismael, co-founder of an organization that helps Yazidis—who were enslaved and slaughtered en masse by ISIS terrorists—calls for perspective on who the real victims are.

“Thousands of terrorists left their heavenly countries and came to Iraq and Syria,“ he told the Post. ”They came and murdered our men, raped and enslaved our women and girls and took our children.”

‘No Regrets’

In earlier interviews, Begum said she has “no regrets” about joining ISIS and suggested that air strikes against the terror group in Syria somehow “justified” the Manchester Arena terror attack.

“It’s a two-way thing, really,” she told the BBC, adding that the suicide bomber that killed 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester was a “kind of retaliation” for bombardments of ISIS-held enclaves, adding, “so I thought, ok, that is a fair justification.”

Begum also told The Times of London that seeing “beheaded heads” in bins “did not faze her.”

Shamima Begum being interviewed by Sky News in Northern Syria, on Feb. 17, 2019. Image via Reuters

In a statement cited by The Telegraph, the family’s lawyer, Tasnime Akunjee, said, “[The] Family are very disappointed with the Home Office’s intention to have an order made depriving Shamima of her citizenship. We are considering all legal avenues to challenge this decision.”

However, under the 1981 British Nationality Act, a person can be deprived of their citizenship if the home secretary is convinced it would be “conducive to the public good,” such as protecting national security and the safety of its citizens—provided that the individual does not become stateless.