Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Tanuki

(15,461 posts)
Sun Jan 12, 2025, 12:03 PM 5 hrs ago

UK rejects Trump/Seb Gorka pressure to repatriate "Isis bride."

I'm glad they're standing firm against this ham-fisted bullying and attempt at intimidation.

https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-david-lammy-reject-us-trump-gorka-call-repatriate-isis-bride-shamima-begum-syria/

"Shamima Begum, who left the U.K. to join ISIS while at school, will not be allowed to leave Syria and return to Britain, the government’s top diplomat confirmed Thursday — despite urging from Donald Trump’s incoming team.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy was asked about Begum’s future after the U.S. president-elect’s pick for Senior Director for Counterterrorism Sebastian Gorka said the U.K. should repatriate British members of the Islamist terror group currently held in Syrian detention camps.

“Any nation which wishes to be seen as a serious ally and friend of the most powerful nation in the world should act in a fashion that reflects that serious commitment,” Gorka told the Times newspaper, stressing that this applied “doubly so for the U.K.”


Asked about Gorka’s call, Lammy dismissed the possibility of Begum returning. “Shamima Begum will not be coming back to the U.K. It’s gone right through the courts. She’s not a U.K. national,” he told ITV. “We will act in our security interests. And many of those in those camps are dangerous, are radicals.”

The foreign secretary added that any ISIS-linked Britons that did return from Syria would “have to be, frankly, jailed as soon as they arrived.”

1 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
UK rejects Trump/Seb Gorka pressure to repatriate "Isis bride." (Original Post) Tanuki 5 hrs ago OP
Odd that Trump's team wants her back in the UK muriel_volestrangler 3 hrs ago #1

muriel_volestrangler

(102,740 posts)
1. Odd that Trump's team wants her back in the UK
Sun Jan 12, 2025, 02:03 PM
3 hrs ago

I can't see it does anything for them, or even for the USA. Perhaps this is just "one more way to fuck with Starmer".

Begum is just a problem that the previous Tory government took the opportunity to wash their hands of (removing her British citizenship on the grounds that she could claim Bangladeshi citizenship from ancestry (she's never been there); but she didn't, and Bangladesh has now said "too late, she's not our problem either" ). If she was American-born, I would expect the Trump team to try the same thing to stop her getting back to the USA.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»UK rejects Trump/Seb Gork...