Shamima Begum, the British-born ISIS bride, has been photographed for the first time in years at her new residence in exile, appearing noticeably “pale and thin.” Born and raised in Bethnal Green, London, she joined ISIS in Syria at the age of 15 in 2015 and later became a child bride to a Dutch convert. Disavowed by the UK government in 2019, she has been striving to return to her family in the UK.
At 26 years old, Begum was recently seen in a brief interview at the al-Roj detention camp in Syria, where reporters observed her looking frail and pale despite her face being obscured. During the interview, conducted by the Daily Express, she entered the room wearing a surgical mask, revealing sunken eyes and a gaunt appearance.
This appearance marked Begum’s first public sighting since a controversial BBC documentary aired in 2023. During the recent interview, she was accompanied by Hoda Muthana, an American resident of the camp who also joined ISIS but surrendered in 2019. Both women declined to answer questions and left promptly after Begum stated, “We don’t have anything to say.”
Begum’s legal team is pursuing a case in the European Court of Human Rights after exhausting all domestic legal avenues, including a final appeal denied by the Supreme Court in August 2024. The court must now determine if the process that revoked Begum’s British citizenship adequately considered her potential status as a trafficking victim. Her lawyers argue that the UK government has neglected its responsibility to repatriate citizens arbitrarily detained in Syrian camps, emphasizing the need for intervention to ensure the return of British women and children.