Begum left her east London home to join the Islamic State in Syria in 2015 but now wants to return to the UK for the sake of her newborn third child. The teenager married Dutch IS fighter Yago Riedijk and had two older children with him, both who died. She now has a third child, a newborn, to care for and hopes to return to Britian – although the UK has revoked her citizenship.
Begum’s father told ITV News: “I don’t think he’s (Sajid Javid) one the right thing because she is British citizen, and if it turns out she has committed any crimes, then she should face justice in the UK.
“She belongs to the country, she belongs to England.
“My daughter was a little child, she made a mistake, she didn’t properly understand.”
Shamima Begum was one of three British schoolgirls who left their homes in east London and travelled to Syria in February 2015.
READ MORE: Shamima Begum: ‘She made a MISTAKE and must come back’ pleads ISIS bride’s father
The now 19-year-old said one of the girls, Kadiza Sultana, married an American IS fighter and was killed after her house in Raqqa was bombed.
She is understood to have died in a Russian airstrike on the then IS-stronghold in May 2016 but this has never been confirmed.
Begum said: “Her house was bombed. Underground, there was secret stuff going on and a spy had figured out that something was going on and other people got killed as well.
“At first I was in denial. I thought if we died we’d die together.”
The whereabouts of the third third schoolgirl, Amira Abase, who Shamima Begum said married an Australian IS militant, is unknown.
The trio followed another friend from their school, Sharmeena Begum, who fled to Syria in 2014 and married a Bosnian IS fighter.
Begum said she last saw Amira Abase and Sharmeena Begum in June, but she said she heard from other IS brides only two weeks ago.
The Islamic State bride said she regrets speaking to the British media and wishes she had found a different way to contact her family.
She told the Sunday Telegraph: “They are making an example of me. I regret speaking to the media. I wish I has stayed low and found a different way to contact my family.
“That’s why I spoke to the newspaper.”
The family said they have had no contact with Ms Begum and had only learned she had given birth to a boy through media repots.
Mr Javid’s removal of her citizenship came amid heated debate over whether the teenager should be able to return to the UK after she was found in a Syrian refugee camp with the terror group’s reign nearly over.
While many do not want to see Ms Begum return to the UK, others have argued she should face prosecution for her actions, and attempts at deradicalisation.