Family lawyer says chances of Begum being sent to country are ‘vanishingly remote’

Shamima Begum could face the death penalty for involvement in terrorism if she goes to Bangladesh, the country’s foreign minister has said.

However, her family’s lawyer said the chances of her being sent to her parents’ country of origin were “vanishingly remote”.

The UK home secretary, Sajid Javid, revoked Begum’s British citizenship in February after she was found at a refugee camp in Syria. She left the UK to join Islamic State in 2015.

Under international law, it is illegal to revoke someone’s citizenship if it leaves them stateless. It was thought Begum had a claim to Bangladeshi citizenship through her family, but Bangladeshi officials have denied this, leaving her in a state of limbo.

The Bangladeshi foreign minister, Abdul Momen, told ITV News: “We have nothing to do with Shamima Begum. She is not a Bangladeshi citizen. She never applied for Bangladeshi citizenship. She was born in England and her mother is British.

“If anyone is found to be involved with terrorism, we have a simple rule: there will be capital punishment. And nothing else. She would be put in prison and immediately the rule is she should be hanged.”

Tasnime Akunjee, the family’s lawyer, said Momen had confirmed “what is obvious to all” in that Begum was born, raised and radicalised in the UK and was “in no way Bangladesh’s problem”.

He told the Guardian: “What Sajid Javid did in stripping Shamima Begum of her citizenship is human flytipping – taking our problems and illegally dumping them on our innocent neighbours.

“The home secretary is open at any time to change his mind and reverse his decision regarding stripping Shamima’s citizenship. This would have the added benefit of saving the British taxpayer all the costs of having a long trial, especially where it is fairly clear what the outcome is going to be.

“Sajid Javid would have been advised about Bangladeshi law and the existence of the death penalty there, but what can we expect from him when he was happy to allow a baby to die as a direct consequence of his actions.”

Begum’s son, Jarrah, died from pneumonia aged less than three weeks in the Syrian refugee camp.

Begum has claimed to have been brainwashed by Isis and said she did not agree with everything the group had done. She has not admitted any terrorism offences.

Javid defended his decision to remove Begum’s citizenship and said the government could not assist British nationals in Syria as there was no consular presence there. The family have reportedly begun legal proceedings to challenge the move.

The government has said it will not comment on individual cases and that decisions to deprive individuals of their citizenship are based on “all available evidence” and are “not taken lightly”.

A person can be deprived of their citizenship under the 1981 British Nationality Act if the home secretary is satisfied it would be “conducive to the public good” and that the individual would not consequently be made stateless.