A London schoolgirl says she wants to “come home” after joining the Islamic State in Syria four years ago at the age of 15.
Although Shamima Begum, 19, one of the three Bethnal Green students who ran away from the United Kingdom in 2015 to join ISIS, says “I don’t regret coming here,” but she does fear for her unborn child’s life and wants to return to London to give birth, she told the Times of London.
Begum said she is 9 months pregnant.
Begum, who married a foreign ISIS fighter, has given birth to two other children during her time in Syria, but they died from illness and malnutrition. She fled from the group in eastern Syria two weeks ago and was found at a refugee camp after escaping from jihadists.
“In the end, I just could not endure any more,” Begum said. “I just couldn’t take it. Now all I want to do is come home to Britain.”
Begum said that she believed the two other schoolgirls who ran away with her to join ISIS are still alive as of two weeks ago, but she has not heard from them since 2015.
The Times noted that Kadiza Sultana is believed to have been killed by an airstrike in 2016.
United Kingdom security minister Ben Wallace said British consular officials would not be traveling to Syria to address Begum’s pleas to go back to Britain because of the danger of that area.
“I’m not putting at risk British people’s lives to go and look for terrorists or former terrorists in a failed state,” Wallace said. “There’s consular services elsewhere in the region and the strong message this government has given for many years is: actions have consequences.”
Under new laws that expected in the coming months, jihadists who return to the United Kingdom could face up to 10 years in prison.
