ISIS bride’s father blames UK authorities for letting her travel to Syria

"The British immigration system is very informed, the most informed system in the world. She doesn’t even have her own passport"

Ali Ahmed, the father of the Jihadi bride Shamima Begum, who travelled to Syria to join ISIS when she was 15, has urged the UK government not to revoke her British citizenship. During an interview with the Associated Press from his home in Bangladesh, the 60-year-old said: “My child was only 15 years old when she fled, she was immature. “I would ask the British Government not to cancel her citizenship, to return her citizenship, and if she is guilty, bring her back to Britain and give her punishment there.” Ali also criticised UK officials for failing to deal prevent students travelling to Syria to join ISIS. “One girl went there a month ago, most likely a month ago. The British Government should have been alarmed about the matter, and they should have also inquired at the school to find out how she fled since she was a student,” he added. “Then a month later, three more students fled. The authorities should investigate at the school why these students fled. They were not adults.” Begum, who just gave birth to a boy earlier in February, is now in a refugee camp in Syria. The 19-year-old Londoner told a journalist that she wants to return to the UK with her baby, but the Home Secretary Sajid Javid ordered the move against her. In a letter to Begum’s family, it read: “Please find enclosed papers that relate to a decision taken by the Home Secretary, to deprive your daughter, Shamima Begum, of her British citizenship.”   Begum married the 27-year-old Dutch-born Yago Riedijk after she arrived in Syria. They have since had three children but two of who have died.