Shamima Begum BLOCKED from Netherlands after husband demands family granted citizenship
SHAMIMA Begum has been blocked from living in the Netherlands after her Dutch husband Yago Riedijk demanded they and their newborn son be granted citizenship there.
Shamima Begum: Husband saw 'nothing wrong' with her age
The 27-year-old, who abandoned his seemingly normal life in the Netherlands in 2014 to join ISIS, told the BBC he longs to be allowed home with his wife and newborn son. But the Dutch Justice and Security Ministry told news agency AFP while they can’t discuss individual cases, a spouse would need a passport and to meet “requirements regarding public order and national security”. The ministry said Begum and Reidijk would be “transported to the Netherlands, arrested and prosecuted”, adding the country “doesn’t offer any help to Dutchmen in Syria willing to return”
The Dutch Justice and Security Ministry foreign fighters with dual nationality could also lose their citizenship.
Under Dutch law, Riedijk would face just six-years in prison for joining the terrorist organisation if he returned to the Netherlands.
Begum has begged to be allowed to return to Britain, despite having her UK citizenship revoked, arguing she was “tricked” into becoming a jihadi bride.
She has pleaded for a “second chance” at life in the UK, saying she is “not dangerous” and offered to “help” young girls thinking of joining ISIS.
Begum said she wants to be “an example of how someone can change” adding: “I want to encourage other young British people to think before they make life-changing decisions like this and not to make the same mistake as me.
“I can’t do that if I am sitting here in a camp, I can’t do that for you.”
Home Secretary Sajid Javid has said Begum would not be allowed into Britain and there have been calls for her to be given a life sentence if she ever makes it back.
In an interview with Sky News, Riedijk conceded he and Begum - who was 15-years-old at the time - both made a mistake when they joined ISIS.
Riedijk is currently being held in a Kurdish detention centre in northeastern Syria while Begum, now 19, and their newborn son, Jarrah, ended up at the al-Hawl refugee camp in northern Syria.
I understand any government's fear of foreign fighters or their wives but to let a young girl in her position who has lost her children, who has been through horrors in Islamic State be left here to rot in a camp - I don't think that's a very humanitarian
He said: "I understand any government's fear of foreign fighters or their wives but to let a young girl in her position who has lost her children, who has been through horrors in Islamic State be left here to rot in a camp - I don't think that's a very humanitarian decision, no."
"I know Shamima is not a danger to anyone whatsoever, but she made a mistake and will have to live with the consequences.
"She never really did anything besides being a wife."
Riedijk added: "She was a good Islamic wife, she stayed in the house, took care of me, of my child.
"I very much regret what I did, that I lived a very miserable life in Islamic State and want to better myself and hopefully one day return to life as it was once, create a family."
In a separate interview with the BBC, Riedijk claimed he didn’t do anything wrong when aged 23, he married 15-year-old Begum just days after she ran away to join Islamic State.
He also admitted fighting for ISIS but claimed he tried to quit the group after they tortured him on suspicion of being a Dutch spy.
Defending his decision to marry the teenager, Riedijk said it was “her choice” and that Begum was in a “good state of mind”.
He said: “To be honest when my friend came and said there was as girl interested in marriage I wasn’t really interested because of her age.
Shamima Begum begs UK for 'mercy' in plea to return home
“But I accepted the offer anyway and we sat down and she seemed in a good state of mind.
“It was her own choice, she was the one who asked to look for a partner for her.
“Then I was invited and, yes, she was very young and maybe it would have been better for her to wait a bit.
“But she didn’t, she chose to get married and I chose to marry her.”