Shamima Begum

[jeremyp]

She is not child any longer,  what evidence is there that woman has shown any penitence for her actions? If she committed a terrorist attack there would be an outcry that she was give leave to return to the UK. Far better safe than sorry, imo.

She is British. We need to take responsibility for British people no matter how bad they are. Not the I think she's a danger anymore. It's inhumane to leave her in a camp in Syria.

[jeremyp]

I'm sorry she is not allowed back home & is stateless. She was just a school kid when she went off & believe she should be forgiven. I wonder if the decisision is irrevocable.

It's only a decision that means she can't come here to fight her appeal against the withdrawal of her citizenship. If she wins her appeal, she can come home.

Incidentally, she was born and raised in Bethnal Green. Where is she supposed to go if she can't come back here?

[bluehillside Retd.]

Am I alone in not understanding this? She made her decision at the age of 15 – terrible though it was when she made it in the eyes of the law she was below the age of legal responsibility (which is 16). Why then are the courts treating her now as if she's legally responsible for her decision when she made it?     

[Nearly Sane]

Am I alone in not understanding this? She made her decision at the age of 15 – terrible though it was when she made it in the eyes of the law she was below the age of legal responsibility (which is 16). Why then are the courts treating her now as if she's legally responsible for her decision when she made it?   

Criminal responsibility is 10 in England but I think that os irrelevant to this decision which is about whether she has to be here for her appeal against the govt's decision. It doesn't mean that the appeal can't be heard.

[bluehillside Retd.]

NS,

Criminal responsibility is 10 in England but I think that os irrelevant to this decision which is about whether she has to be here for her appeal against the govt's decision. It doesn't mean that the appeal can't be heard.

OK, thanks. I googled “age of criminal responsibility” and got this from a Guardian article:

“The age of criminal responsibility is 16, though children aged 12 and over can be considered to have committed crimes. Children under 12 are considered incapable of breaking the law, and are treated as victims, not offenders, if they do something that would be considered a crime for someone older.”

Having now read the article though, I see that this part refers specifically to Portugal rather than to the UK. Notwithstanding, she still made a terrible life choice at an age in which people in the UK are not considered capable of making all sorts of informed decisions, and it’s not at all clear that she had much control over her “choices” once she got there. It’s the govt’s decision itself I was thinking of rather than where her appeal should be heard – I fail to see how “you made a bad decision at age 15 on the basis of which we can bar you from returning” is ok when if, say, instead she’d got married at 15 by lying about her age the marriage would (presumably) automatically be deemed invalid.