The British government, under the fire of the death of the baby of "the wife" of the IE

LONDON – The British government has been sharply criticized today after the announcement of the death of

Syria

of Shamima Begum's baby, who was stripped of his British nationality in February for joining the group

Islamic State

(IE) in 2015.

Shamina Begum, 19, had asked to return

United Kingdom

with his son Jarrah, born in February. The government rejected the request. Interior Minister Sajid Javid said that the baby, whose mother did not want to be separated, had British nationality but it would be "extremely difficult" to allow her repatriation. from Syria.

"An innocent child is dead because the nationality of a Briton has been removed.It is absurd and inhumane," wrote Diane Abbott, a Labor Party member, on Twitter.

"It is morally wrong to leave a vulnerable young woman and an innocent child in a refugee camp when we know that the level of mortality is high," he wrote. "The tragic death of Shamima Begum's baby, Jarrah, is a blot on the conscience of this government."

The NGO Save the Children also criticized the government, saying the death of this child "could have been avoided". The organization asked the British government "to badume its responsibilities towards its citizens present in the north-east of Syria".

"All children related to EI are victims of the conflict and should be treated as such," added the NGO. "The dangerous situation in which these children find themselves highlights the need for countries of origin to urgently guarantee the security of their citizens and to repatriate them."

Shamima Begum, from East London, gave birth to her third child in a refugee camp in northeastern Syria after fleeing the last bastion of the Islamic State in Baghuz, East of the country, on the Iraqi border. The girl said that she refused to be separated from her baby to be repatriated to Britain.

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) spokesman Mustafa Bali yesterday confirmed the boy's death, but gave no details about the causes. The BBC, who referred to a medical certificate, said she would have died of pneumonia.

Begum married the Dutch jihadist Yago Riedijk, with whom he had two other children who died of malnutrition diseases, and was found a little over a month ago in a refugee camp by the British newspaper. .
The weather.

"The death of every child is tragic and deeply distressing for his family," said a spokesman for the government. "The Foreign Ministry has always advised against going to Syria since April 2011," he added.

Shamima Begum has never regretted being part of Syria. This position has surprised the British public, marked by a series of attacks since 2017 claimed by the Islamic State.

The case of the woman, who went to Syria in 2015 with two clbadmates, reflects the dilemma faced by several governments of European countries who must choose between banning the return of their jihadist nationals for security reasons or allowing them to come back and treat them. .

Sajid Javid made the decision in mid-February to remove the girl from her British nationality, claiming that she was also a citizen of Bangladesh and therefore would not become stateless.

Shamima Begum's family appealed this decision. In an email he asked the help of the Ministry of the Interior to "take home" Begum's son.

The baby is a "true innocent" who should be able to benefit from the "privilege of being safely raised in this country," he said.

AFP Agency