ISIS bride Shamima Begum is plotting an attempt to return to the UK using people smugglers, texts from inside her camp reportedly reveal.
Begum, who was stripped of her British citizenship after leaving London to join the terror group in 2015, is currently being held at al-Roj – a filthy, violent camp in north-east Syria.
The 26-year-old, who was 15 when she travelled from Bethnal Green, east London, into IS territory, has made multiple legal bids to return to the UK but they have all failed.
It has now been claimed that there is a plot brewing to sneak her back into Britain via people smugglers.
The audacious plan comes after the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) questioned the UK’s decision to strip Begum’s citizenship and called for the Government to consider whether she was a victim of trafficking.
Filmmaker Andrew Drury, who has interviewed Begum six times in al-Roj, has revealed he has been contacted from inside the camp by an American former jihadi who wants to escape with Begum.
Mr Drury, 60, has received several messages from Begum’s camp best friend Hoda Muthana – an American woman who also lost her citizenship after joining ISIS.
Hoda – appearing to act as a fixer for Begum – begged Mr Drury for thousands of US dollars using the code word ‘gummies’ and British pounds using the term ‘mints’.
They appear to be plotting to cross the border into nearby Turkey to ‘get to our embassies’ and that they believe the UK will be forced to take Begum back ‘once Turkey deports her’.
ISIS bride Shamima Begum (pictured in 2019) is plotting an attempt to return to the UK using people smugglers, texts from inside her camp reveal
Begum is still living at the al-Roj camp in northern Syria (pictured in 2021)
In messages seen by The Express, Hoda writes: ‘Bring five thousand gummy bears with u, the American brand, is better. S (Shamima) also likes mints, about the same amount, but better u come and give it so half the bag isn’t taken.’
When Mr Drury told Hoda, ‘The UK won’t let her back’, the ISIS bride replied: ‘They eventually will once Turkey deports her which is what they do.’
The two former jihadi brides also admit to planning interviews, with Hoda adding: ‘SB (Shamima Begum) already promised certain networks to be the first to interview her outside the camp, and in the UK when she finally gets repatriated.’
However, when pressed on who the networks might be, Hoda claimed Begum has not agreed with anyone yet and ‘she has people in mind who she thinks will do a fair story.’
In other messages, Hoda tells Mr Drury: ‘Imagine it as an investment.’
She adds: ‘We finally get out of here begin our process. We’re not asking to hide or run away. We just want to get to our embassies. And you’ll be the first to know and see her.’
Mr Drury did not send any money to the camp and informed his local MP and MI5. But he claims he has not received a response from the security services.
Speaking to The Express, the filmmaker said: ‘I’m not going to give a terrorist, or somebody I consider as a terrorist, money.
‘I understand her wanting to get out of the camp in desperation, but she and Hoda seem to be trying to manipulate people financially to help them, who knows who they are paying money to.
‘What’s worrying as well is they appear to be saying they are negotiating media interviews for when and if they manage to get to Turkey and they claim they will be repatriated if they reach their embassies.
‘But imagine if the people smugglers help Shamima so she ends up crossing the Channel in a small boat and reaching Britain that way. There’s plenty of asylum seekers who have taken that route from Syria and Iraq through Turkey.’
It is claimed that Begum is already receiving money from ‘unknown sources’ and is plotting to escape from the camp amid tension in the area.
The camp s controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who also oversee several other camps housing more than 9,000 ISIS fighters and around 40,000 women and children.
The SDF has now lost almost all of its territory to forces loyal to Syria’s president Ahmed al-Sharaa.
The Londoner was 15 when she and two friends travelled from Bethnal Green to Syria to join Islamic State.
Shamima Begum (pictured in February 2023) was stripped of her British citizenship after leaving London to join ISIS
Begum, who married an ISIS fighter and had three children who all died, was found in a Syrian refugee camp in 2019 and her citizenship was immediately revoked by then-home secretary Sajid Javid on national security grounds, kickstarting her lengthy legal challenge.
But in late December, the ECHR formally asked the Home Office whether it broke human rights and anti-trafficking laws – after Begum was stripped of her UK citizenship.
The latest intervention sparked a major backlash, with Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood vowing to defend the Government’s decision at the time.
Begum lost an appeal in February 2023 against the decision to revoke her citizenship after the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) ruled this was lawful.
She then lost a Court of Appeal bid in February 2024, before she was most recently denied the chance to challenge it at the Supreme Court in August 2024.
However, Begum’s lawyers warned at the time that they could still take her case to the ECHR – which they later did.
The Home Office has now been told by the European court to answer four questions about her citizenship.
One asks: ‘Has there been a violation of the applicant’s rights under Article 4 of the Convention by virtue of the decision to deprive her of her citizenship?’
Another says: ‘For the purposes of the Article 4 complaints made in the application, was the applicant at all material times within the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom, within the meaning of Article 1 of the Convention?’
Article 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights relates to the ‘obligation to respect human rights’, while Article 4 relates to ‘freedom from slavery and forced labour’.
A further question asks: ‘Did the Secretary of State for the Home Department’s decision to deprive the applicant of her citizenship engage her rights under Article 4 of the Convention?’
A FCDO spokesperson said: ‘Protecting our national security is the first priority for the UK Government.
‘That is why we are continuing to work with the Syrian and Iraqi Governments, as well as other partners, to protect our shared security interests in the region, and ensure the enduring defeat of Daesh.
- An earlier version of this article stated that judges of the European Court of Human Rights had come to Shamima Begum’s defence and that Article 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights relates to the ‘protection of property’. In fact, the court’s request for further information from UK authorities is in line with its usual procedure following receipt of an application alleging violations of the Convention and does not constitute support for Ms Begum. Article 1 relates to the ‘obligation to respect human rights’. The article has been amended to reflect this.
