Letter: 'UK should do the honourable thing and take back Shamima Begum'

I can understand why she thinks there are better things for the Beeb to spend money on, especially seeing it is her licence fee they are spending to publicise this woman who she clearly feels should be left to stew in the nightmare she chose to live in.

However, I feel there are other facts she should bear in my mind before coming to her conclusion. Shamima Begum is being held in a detention centre in Syria. This part of the country is controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) who fought and defeated the Islamic State where Begum was found.

They are still struggling to preserve their new state against opposition from Turkey, Russia and the Syrian dictatorship.

Now, they are at the epicentre of the recent earthquake and have goodness knows how many thousands of dead, injured, and homeless people to see to in freezing temperatures.

The last thing they need is the responsibility of looking after a detention centre full of other countries’ citizens who were foolish enough the join the ISIS caliphate which the SDF helped to defeat. This brave new independent nation is fighting its way through hell and back.

The British government should do the decent thing by taking Shamima Begum off their hands. The SDF have enough to contend without taking on other nations’ misfits.

In any case, without the British government’s lunatic invasion of Iraq, the region wouldn’t have been in the chaos which allowed ISIS to succeed. We can’t just wash our hands of the consequences of our actions. Shamima Begum is our responsibility. We should do the honourable thing and take her back, just like Spain, Italy and the US have done with theirs. And if the BBC is making a programme to highlight this situation, good for them.

Editor’s note: This letter was written before the Government’s decision today to dismiss her appeal against the decision to strip her of her British citizenship. The Special Immigration Appeals Commision said it made the decision after it received national security advice on the threat posed by Begum to the UK.

Roy Morris

Sheffield, S10