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[Miles Quaritch]

So yeah,

A woman from Manchester who fled to Syria with her five children is now desperate to return to the UK. Shukee Begum left last year and made her way into Syria via Turkey.

The woman of Somali origin, is reportedly married to an Islamic State fighter and claims she only travelled to Isil's self declared capital of Raqqa, with the intention of persuading her husband, Muftah el-Deen, a jihadist and also a British national, to return home with her.

Her husband is believed to have died in conflict and Begum is now appealing for help to return home to safety with her three daughters and two sons, who are aged between one and 12.

In a video obtained by the Sunday Times, Begum reveals she has spent the past 10 months based in the town of al-Bab in northern Syria, where she taught English to the children of foreign fighters.

In the recording, she describes her plight, adding that her house being bombed by the US-led coalition was the final straw, prompting her decision to escape. She appears to regret her decision to flee the UK and place her children in the Isis stronghold and now denounces the militant terror group describing it as 'not Islamic'.

Begum, escaped from Syria with the help of a group which aids defecting ISIS members. The family was handed over to the Free Syrian Army, but they have been unable to make it across the border into Turkey. The family is now believed to be stranded in Turkey.

Ahmed Adul Kader, an activist with anti-ISIS group Eye on the Homeland, based in Turkey, who helped smuggle Begum and her children out of Syria, told The Telegraph the family were "traumatised" by the ordeal and are now terrified that they would be tracked down by Isil sleeper cells in Turkey for escaping. Anyone who demonstrates opposition to the regime or defects would almost certainly be executed.

"They are in shock," explained Kader. "They want to go home to Britain. They can't stay here in Turkey. They believe they will be targeted by Isil (ISIS)"

The Home Office is understood to be liaising with Turkish authorities on the case and has had indirect contact with Mrs Begum. A Foreign Office spokesman confirmed the reports saying: "We can confirm that a British national and her children have been reported missing in Turkey. We have been supporting the family in the UK alongside the police. All relevant information has been shared with the Turkish authorities and we continue to work closely with them on this case.

"The UK has advised for some time against all travel to Syria. Anyone who does travel to these areas, for whatever reason, is putting themselves in considerable danger."

Others say those who joined the group and subsequently renounced it should be repatriated and may even present valuable examples to counter Isil propaganda by highlighting the risks and harsh reality of life under Islamic State. Many 'jihadi's' are children such as East London teenagers Amira Abase, Shamima Begum and Khadiza Sultana who have been radicalised via social media and lured to Syria.

In the case of Mrs Begum, her children would evidently have had no say in whether they were taken to Syria and their circumstance presents a strong case for repatriation.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/isis-mother-fled-uk-syria-204157128.html#xHEv05a

I agree with the comment about the children, but they clearly can't be left with someone so unstable.

 

[Xenex]

Nope.

Edit: I do feel sorry for the children though :/

 

[NEO0MJ]

Terrible story. It seems most of them were young but I'd worry about the oldest child. Staying in that environment, even for 10 months, is bound to leave a big impact on him/her.

 

[Deleted member 231381]

Repatriate them, put the children into care, provide mental health support for the mother and put her under a very carefully monitored rehabilitation procedure, and when done try and persuade her to proselytize against ISIS. Everyone wins.

 

[TheLostBigBoss]

If her only intention was to get the dude to come home from an active war zone, why did she bring her kids?

Fuck those kids.

err?

 

[Escape Goat]

Nope.

Edit: I do feel sorry for the children though :/

Fuck those kids.

 

[Addnan]

Well she is a British citizen right? What's the story, they have to let her back in and do what they do either way. Take the kids away, help her whatever.

 

[Xenex]

Fuck those kids.

Yh they are going to be a lost cause, but it didn't have to be like that if it wasn't for their stupid mother.

 

[Shuggananas]

If her only intention was to get the dude to come home from an active war zone, why did she bring her kids?

Sounds to me like a good old case of stupid...

 

[liquidtmd]

 

[Hagi]

I know if I was going to try and bring back my terrorist husband from an active war zone I'd my five kids along too.

Yh they are going to be a lost cause, but it didn't have to be like that if it wasn't for their stupid mother.

Damn no sympathy for even one year olds now? Must have missed those videos showing babies carrying AK-47's and screaming for an Islamic State.

 

[Summer Haze]

What a fucking idiot. Those poor kids. Ugh.

Fuck those kids.

What the fuck...

 

[Jonnax]

Others say those who joined the group and subsequently renounced it should be repatriated and may even present valuable examples to counter Isil propaganda by highlighting the risks and harsh reality of life under Islamic State. Many 'jihadi's' are children such as East London teenagers Amira Abase, Shamima Begum and Khadiza Sultana who have been radicalised via social media and lured to Syria.

I don't understand this line of thinking. If you leave your country to become part of a murderous state then doesn't that mean you're rejecting your citizenship?

Why does a country need to take them back and rehabilitate them?

 

[Escape Goat]

Yh they are going to be a lost cause, but it didn't have to be like that if it wasn't for their stupid mother.

...

So youre happy to leave them there because their parents are shitheads? Surely I am misunderstanding you.

 

[rjinaz]

Let the Mother come back wit the kids, but she is obviously unfit and reckless so the kids are going to have to be separated from her and she should probably be placed in a mental health facility of some sort.

 

[Symphonia]

She went to bring her husband back? Bullshit. If that was the case, why take the kids? She had every intention of staying in Syria to help support Islamic State's cause, and even probably had the intention to raise her kids to do the same. No, fuck that shit. Keep her and the children out of this country. She made her choice, let her deal with the consequences.

#NotOurProblem

 

[Deleted member 231381]

I don't understand this line of thinking. If you leave your country to become part of a murderous state then doesn't that mean you're rejecting your citizenship?

Why does a country need to take them back and rehabilitate them?

I mean, it doesn't "need to", but a) there's a pretty fucking basic moral case that you shouldn't leave five innocent children to die if you can do something about it, and b) ex-ISIS members are usually the most effective means of combating ISIS as they can provide information and their tales of ISIS' debauchery are perceived more credibly than Western ones.

 

[rjinaz]

...

So youre happy to leave them there because their parents are shitheads? Surely I am misunderstanding you.

Are you trolling? You literally just said:

"Fuck those kids."

Edit:

I take it you were being sarcastic now.

 

[ZehDon]

Fuck those kids.

What the fuck is this?

 

[tornjaw]

Rescue the children. They're innocent. She, however, not. At a minimum she is guilty of exposing such young children to a terrible situation. I have no sympathy for her.

 

[Mohonky]

If her only intention was to get the dude to come home from an active war zone, why did she bring her kids?



err?

Yeh, and after 10 months it was only after her house was blown to shit by the coalitin that she 'denounced' the Islamic State as being un-Islamic.

Went there to bring her husband back my ass.

What is wrong with these idiots. 'I thought going and living in a self appointed state of terror, rape and war was going to be paradise, how was I to know?'

No sympathy. You have people leaving countries that have taken in refugees in the past only to have them run off again and join this sort of shit and talk about how terrible these people back in the West are and now it's 'this whole Islamic State thing isnt what I thought it was!!' Really?

 

[ffdgh]

Feel bad for the kids...

 

[Escape Goat]

Are you trolling? You literally just said:

"Fuck those kids."

I was being facetious.

 

[Hagi]

She went to bring her husband back? Bullshit. If that was the case, why take the kids? She had every intention of staying in Syria to help support Islamic State's cause, and even probably had the intention to raise her kids to do the same. No, fuck that shit. Keep her and the children out of this country. She made her choice, let her deal with the consequences.

#NotOurProblem

You are happy to let her children be possibly killed or enslaved because of their mothers stupidity when we can quite easily prevent that? Man I'm never surprised by the fucked up shit I read on here.

 

[Interceptor]

She made her choice. But she will make it back anyway. Just destroy your passport and say you're a refugee. Done.

 

[Summer Haze]

She went to bring her husband back? Bullshit. If that was the case, why take the kids? She had every intention of staying in Syria to help support Islamic State's cause, and even probably had the intention to raise her kids to do the same. No, fuck that shit. Keep her and the children out of this country. She made her choice, let her deal with the consequences.

#NotOurProblem

What a disgusting lack of empathy for children who had no say whatsoever in what their crackpot mother decided to do with their lives. Shame on you.

 

[NekoFever]

I don't understand this line of thinking. If you leave your country to become part of a murderous state then doesn't that mean you're rejecting your citizenship?

Why does a country need to take them back and rehabilitate them?

Because it's illegal for a country to make one of its citizens stateless.

 

[SomedayTheFire]

Those poor children

 

[Yagharek]

I'd say let them back because they are kids, and let the woman back because otherwise the kids will be kept in danger, but once back in England those kids need to be taken away from her for good since she willingly took them into a war zone.

 

[rjinaz]

Yeh, and after 10 months it was only after her house was blown to shit by the coalitin that she 'denounced' the Islamic State as being un-Islamic.

Went there to bring her husband back my ass.

What is wrong with these idiots. 'I thought going and living in a self appointed state of terror, rape and war was going to be paradise, how was I to know?'

No sympathy. You have people leaving countries that have taken in refugees in the past only to have them run off again and join this sort of shit and talk about how terrible these people back in the West are and now it's 'this whole Islamic State thing isnt what I thought it was!!' Really?

The only thing I can think of is that they are brainwashed. They honestly believe IT IS paradise and that the Western media is lying because they hate Muslims. ISIS are actually the good guys and would never do the things the media is claiming.

 

[NEO0MJ]

The only reason I can imagine her bringing her kids with her was that she thought it would help her convince her husband, not that I'd buy that excuse.

 

[Miles Quaritch]

 

[SmokyDave]

I want to believe that rehabilitation is the right option, and that these people can be used as effective deterrents to others. I want to, but I don't. Sucks for the kids but I think a more effective deterrent might be a policy of 'once you're there, you ain't coming back'. Seems like a good way of gradually reducing our radicalised or radical-leaning population.

 

[Game-Biz]

Yeah, those kids need to be taken away from her. She's a terrible mother.

 

[Deleted member 231381]

I want to believe that rehabilitation is the right option, and that these people can be used as effective deterrents to others. I want to, but I don't. Sucks for the kids but I think a more effective deterrent might be a policy of 'once you're there, you ain't coming back'. Seems like a good way of gradually reducing our radicalised or radical-leaning population.

Thank you for that, Prof. SmokyDave, PhD. in Islamist Extremism. The results of your careful policy study and well-thought conclusion on this pressing issue of our time has opened my eyes. Truly, all of those other experts disagreeing with your opinion have clearly not been to such a prestigious institution as the University of What the Man at the Pub Told Me, and I can therefore feel comfortable in ignoring them.

 

[Blader]

I don't understand this line of thinking. If you leave your country to become part of a murderous state then doesn't that mean you're rejecting your citizenship?

Why does a country need to take them back and rehabilitate them?

It says right in the blurb you quoted -- there's a propaganda value to repatriating western Muslims who had previously left to join ISIS only to realize they fucked up. ISIS recruits heavily on the power of its social media messaging, and having a strong counter marketing response to that -- with real living examples -- is pretty important.

Also, regardless of the mother's intentions, it's not like these kids had any say in it.

 

[Xenex]

...

So youre happy to leave them there because their parents are shitheads? Surely I am misunderstanding you.

TBH I'm quite split on the situation. Part of me thinks fuck them all, to have a mother willing to take her children to that region makes me think even if they hadn't of gone that hatred towards the "evil" west would have been instilled in the kids. The other part of me thinks, they are just kids and even if the older kids hold some of those views they can be reintroduced back into society away from the mother.

 

[Interceptor]

Ah, little kids in burkas. Is it so easy for men to get sexually aroused in space pixie land?

 

[cameron]

Five kids. Five! It's frustrating that stupid people have so many children. But we can't turn a blind eye to those kids. They were taken away from their home (the UK) by a deranged woman.

 

[GeordieMark]

As harsh as it sounds, I don't really care what happens to her or her family. You make your bed, you lie in it. I don't have much hope for those kids with a mother like that anyway.

She showed how much she cared about the lives of other people when she did something as dumb as travel to Syria to join ISIS. If they do execute her, its a fitting end to her given that she backed the same regime that would apparently see her dead.

Thank you for that, Prof. SmokyDave, PhD. in Islamist Extremism. The results of your careful policy study and well-thought conclusion on this pressing issue of our time has opened my eyes. Truly, all of those other experts disagreeing with your opinion have clearly not been to such a prestigious institution as the University of What the Man at the Pub Told Me, and I can therefore feel comfortable in ignoring them.

If you come to GAF expecting responses worthy of PhD level academics, its you who could do with spending more time in an educational institution.

 

[Mimosa97]

Children who are between 1 and 12 are a lost cause ? Do you really think these children are going to blow themselves up if they're allowed to return to their country ?

Let her come back. Take the kids away. Put her in jail for life with the possibility of parole.

I want to believe that rehabilitation is the right option, and that these people can be used as effective deterrents to others. I want to, but I don't. Sucks for the kids but I think a more effective deterrent might be a policy of 'once you're there, you ain't coming back'. Seems like a good way of gradually reducing our radicalised or radical-leaning population.

I don't believe in rehabilitation. I think the adults joining ISIS or ISIS-sympathisers are a lost cause. But a country can't turn a blind eye on its kids. That's fucked up in so many ways. What if those kids were the children of a serial murderer who taught them to kill people and eat human flesh, would you say the same thing as " They're a lost cause, we can't rehabilate them, let them die " ? Seriously ? No you wouldn't. You would say they're victims too and they need help (therapy, a foster home etc...). Same thing for these kids. They never asked for it.

Anyways the only one old enough to understand what's happening is the 12 year old. You can't tell me the toddlers are a lost cause ... The problem is the mother. I wish there were strong enough laws to put her in prison for life.

 

[Symphonia]

I want to believe that rehabilitation is the right option, and that these people can be used as effective deterrents to others. I want to, but I don't. Sucks for the kids but I think a more effective deterrent might be a policy of 'once you're there, you ain't coming back'. Seems like a good way of gradually reducing our radicalised or radical-leaning population.

Exactly my point, you just phrased it more eloquently.

What a disgusting lack of empathy for children who had no say whatsoever in what their crackpot mother decided to do with their lives. Shame on you.

The kids were fucked the moment they were born with a mother like that. I stand by my belief she had means to train them to fight for IS. Why should we let potential IS supporters back in to the country they deserted?

 

[LostCaress]

Repatriate them, put the children into care, provide mental health support for the mother and put her under a very carefully monitored rehabilitation procedure, and when done try and persuade her to proselytize against ISIS. Everyone wins.

Seems like the best option to me.

 

[RoadHazard]

Zero sympathy for her, she's either supid as hell or lying. But one does feel bad for the kids, of course.

 

[SmokyDave]

Thank you for that, Prof. SmokyDave, PhD. in Islamist Extremism. The results of your careful policy study and well-thought conclusion on this pressing issue of our time has opened my eyes. Truly, all of those other experts disagreeing with your opinion have clearly not been to such a prestigious institution as the University of What the Man at the Pub Told Me, and I can therefore feel comfortable in ignoring them.

I just don't care. This shit isn't worth anything more than a cursory reaction. We've got real problems without having to worry about these fuckwits running off to their glorious caliphate only to realise it's every bit as shitty as the rest of us knew it would be.

 

[Plasma]

Let the kids back in and leave the woman out there to rot she made her choice.

 

[air jordans for dogs]

Lol, feel real bad for those kids though. They were put in a shitty situation because of their braindead parents.

 

[PhoenixDark]

I want to believe that rehabilitation is the right option, and that these people can be used as effective deterrents to others. I want to, but I don't. Sucks for the kids but I think a more effective deterrent might be a policy of 'once you're there, you ain't coming back'. Seems like a good way of gradually reducing our radicalised or radical-leaning population.

If I was British I'd rather take this approach than have the government medically and financially take care of people who literally want to destroy society. She made her decision, it's not my problem.

 

[Deleted member 231381]

I just don't care. This shit isn't worth anything more than a cursory reaction. We've got real problems without having to worry about these fuckwits running off to their glorious caliphate only to realise it's every bit as shitty as the rest of us knew it would be.

"I don't care I'm wrong on this issue, so I'm fine with more people dying".

Ok.

 

[spekkeh]

Helping terrorists = (should be) going to jail. Renouncing it when the shit starts hitting the fan does not absolve you in any way.

I would support SmokeyDave's approach, but I'm guessing she's a UK national, which would make it a bit difficult to bar her from entry (unless she has a double nationality in which case the race is on to revoke one of them first), but the kids should definitely be placed in a foster home far away from their family. Though I'm afraid some of them are too old to ever land on their feet.