ISIS’s bride, Shamima Begum, traded her traditional Islamic attire for Western clothing in her refugee camp in Syria – more like a British-toned tourist, a striped T-shirt and a zippered sweater.
The 21-year-old’s ensemble at Al Roj camp contrasted sharply with the black niqab she wore when she was found in 2019, when she expressed her support for the terrorist group.
Begum is being held in the detention camp after the UK Supreme Court unanimously rejected her request to return to Britain.
She shook hands with the Telegraph on Sunday, but politely refused to be interviewed, citing legal advice, although she agreed to be photographed.
Begum was just 15 when she and two other students from London traveled to Syria to join the jihadists.
His citizenship was revoked for national security reasons in 2019. The other two are believed to have been killed in the conflict.
She lost three children born in the following years, the last a boy born in 2019 after she married an ISIS fighter from the Netherlands. That year, she told Sky News that her first two children died “of illness” in a camp.
On Monday, a lawyer for her family accused Britain of racism about her treatment, calling her a “tragic scapegoat”.
“What happened to Christian forgiveness? Doesn’t it apply to a woman – and on top of dark skin? It seems that different rules apply, “lawyer Tasnime Akunjee and sculptor Anish Kapoor said in a joint statement, Agence France-Presse said.
“Are some of us more British than others? Shamima is a descendant of Bangladesh, does this change your right to British nationality? ” they said.
“I am tempted to think so, especially in light of the Supreme Court judgment,” added the two.
Kapoor – best known for his conceptual art installations – and Akunjee called the UK’s stance “a shameful accusation of our national conscience”, suggesting that “four white girls” from a less ethnically diverse area outside London “without a doubt” would be treated differently.
“This is ‘divide and rule’, the horror that sustained the British Empire for 200 years. Do we now return to practice this at home? ” they asked.
Eight other British women also declined interviews with the Telegraph on Sunday, several citing legal advice.
Camp manager Nora Abdo said British women in the camp routinely refuse media requests based on legal advice, adding that they behave well and cause no problems.
Abdo told the news agency that some women in the countryside rejected the extremist ideology.
“We noticed the change in his clothes,” she said. “They want to go home. They say they are ready to pay the penalty for their crimes. Some are thinking about their children’s future ”.