Lord Dubs calls for Shamima Begum to return and face justice amid ECHR case

Lord Alf Dubs, who fled Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia on the Kinderstransport scheme, has called for Shamima Begum to be returned to the UK and face trial.

The Labour peer, who spent eight years as an MP, said Ms Begum should come to the UK and “face justice”, after she was “probably trafficked” to join the so-called Islamic State (IS) as a 15-year-old.

Lord Dubs said the situation in North Syria, where a truce has been agreed between Syrian Government Forces and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, meant it was particularly critical to bring Ms Begum back.

Ms Begum travelled as a teenager from Bethnal Green, east London, to territory held by IS a decade ago. She is now 26.

She was “married off” to an IS fighter and was stripped of her British citizenship in February 2019 on the grounds of posing a threat to national security, and remains in a Syrian camp.

Ms Begum is currently challenging the decision under Article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights – prohibition of slavery and forced labour.

Home Office minister Lord Hanson of Flint said he could not comment while the legal case was under way. Crossbench peer and top barrister Lord Pannick KC, who previously represented Ms Begum in court, said ministers were “hiding behind” proceedings.

Crossbench peer Baroness Gohir said Ms Begum was being treated as a “political football”.

The Home Office said late last year Shabana Mahmood will “robustly defend” the decision to revoke Ms Begum’s citizenship.

Speaking in the House of Lords, Lord Dubs said: “Does my noble friend agree that the situation in Northern Syria has become more dangerous recently, especially for those being held in detention camps.”

He added: “Wouldn’t it be right for Shamima Begum, a British-born person, educated and brought up here and probably trafficked to Syria as a 15-year-old, should be allowed to return and face justice? Or does the Government seriously believe she should stay in a prison camp indefinitely.”

Lord Hanson said the Government was monitoring the situation in the region.

He added: “With regard to Shamima Begum, I try and be helpful on these matters but I can’t be any more helpful than I was last time, which is to say a process has been followed, there is further discussion currently in the European courts, and I can’t anticipate or comment upon that matter until such time as those issues are resolved.”

Conservative former minister Viscount Hailsham, who was foreign minister under Margaret Thatcher and John Major, reminded peers that Ms Begum was a child when she left the UK.

He said: “What is the public interest in excluding her from the United Kingdom now, are we just making political gestures? I may of course acknowledge that I am aware that the original decision was made by the previous administration?”

Lord Hanson replied: “The original decision was made by the previous administration. It happens to be one that this Government has upheld and supports.”

Members of the upper chamber raised wider security concerns. Conservative shadow home minister Lord Davies of Gower said his party was “unequivocal” that Ms Begum should not be allowed to return to the UK.

He said, however, he was concerned about former IS fighters being freed amid the conflict in northern Syria and coming to the UK on small boats.

Lord Hanson replied that the Government had spoken to the Syrian foreign minister and would continue following developments.

Labour peer Baroness Shami Chakrabarti, former head of human rights charity Liberty, said: “What does he think of the broader policy conundrum that if developed democracies take citizenship away from their dangerous or perceived dangerous subjects and citizens, we render large numbers of people stateless and create a powder keg of resentment and fermenting of all sorts of challenges that will make us less and not more safe?”

Lord Hanson said: “It is not a situation that is taken lightly, and when it is taken, it is taken on the basis of advice and on the basis of no-one is left stateless in doing so.”

Published: 03/02/2026 by Radio NewsHub