Shamima Begum was a London schoolgirl until Scotland Yard raised concerns she and two of her fellow pupils had travelled to Syria in February 2015.

The now 23-year-old was just 15 when she travelled to Istanbul in Turkey from Gatwick Airport to join the so-called Islamic State (IS) with her close friends at Bethnal Green Academy – Kadiza Sultana, 16, and Amira Abase, 15.

Despite her family’s warnings that Syria was a “dangerous place”, the then teenager, described as a “straight A student”, crossed the border just days later with the help of a Canadian spy named Mohammed Al Rasheed, according to reports.

In the Shamima Begum Story BBC podcast series, she said she was told to “pack nice clothes so you can dress nicely for your husband”.

Just 10 days after arriving in the city of Raqqa, Ms Begum, who is of Bangladeshi heritage, was married to a Dutchman named Yago Riedijk, who had converted to Islam.

They had three children together, who all later died from malnourishment or disease. They were a one-year-old girl, a three-month-old boy and newborn son.

Ms Begum left Raqqa with her husband in January 2017, but they were eventually split up, as she claimed he was arrested for spying and tortured.

She was eventually found nine months pregnant in a refugee camp in al-Roj in February 2019 by a Times journalist.

Ms Begum told the reporter it “didn’t faze me at all” when she saw her first “severed head”, but would “do anything required just to be able to come home”.

But the runaway schoolgirl said she did not regret travelling to IS-controlled Syria, saying she had a “good time”.

The then-Metropolitan Police commissioner Dame Cressida Dick said Ms Begum could expect to be “spoken to” if she returned to the UK.

In the same month, she was stripped of her British citizenship after announcing her desire to return to the UK with her then unborn third child.

The move was deemed only permissible under international law if it did not leave her stateless.

Since then, the former IS bride has been embroiled in a battle with the British legal system – she lost her latest legal challenge over the decision to deprive her of her British citizenship on Wednesday.

Ms Begum described the initial move to revoke her citizenship as “unjust on me and my son”.

The then-home secretary Sajid Javid said although he would never leave an individual stateless, his priority was the “safety and security” of the UK.

Mr Javid was criticised by Labour after Ms Begum’s son later died – with the then-shadow home secretary Diane Abbott describing the situation as “callous and inhumane”.

She lost her first appeal to return to the UK but successfully challenged the decision at the Court of Appeal.

But the Government submitted a fresh appeal, meaning her return was put on hold pending a Supreme Court battle.

She was dealt a fresh blow when the Supreme Court ruled she could not come back to the UK – leading to her begging the British public for forgiveness.

When she appeared on TV screens in September 2021, she had drastically changed her appearance – wearing a Nike baseball cap, a grey vest, Casio watch and with her fingernails painted pink.

Ms Begum said there was “no evidence” she was a key player in preparing terrorist acts and was prepared to prove her innocence in court.

She denied her Western physical appearance on Good Morning Britain – in stark contrast to the traditional Islamic dress she previously adorned – was a publicity stunt.

In the BBC podcast series released last month, she said she understood public anger towards her, but insisted she is not a “bad person”.

She told the podcast she accepted she is viewed “as a danger, as a risk”, but blamed her portrayal in the media.

The Home Secretary will call on public figures to “moderate their language” to halt the spread of poisonous ideologies.

In a speech on Friday, Sajid Javid is expected to call for an honest “national conversation” about extremism and challenge anti-immigration rhetoric, which he says is stoking division and fear.

It comes after Donald Trump sparked a racism row when he sent tweets telling four female Democratic politicians to “go back” to the countries from which they came.

Mr Javid is expected to say: “I’m from an immigrant family, I know what it’s like to be told to go back to where I came from.

“We must confront the myths about immigration that extremists use to drive divisions.

“We know the scale is exaggerated to stoke up fear and that they use immigration as a proxy for race.

“Anyone can challenge the myths peddled by extremists that deepen divisions.

“So tell your friends, shout it loud and proud: people from minority backgrounds did not steal our jobs, they’re not terrorists, that there is no global ‘Zionist conspiracy’.”

Mr Javid will outline a three-pronged approach of tackling extremism – confronting narratives, strengthening communities’ resilience and tackling causes of confronting extremist narratives – in what is being touted as one of the first major interventions since the Counter Extremism Strategy was launched in 2015.

He will call for further integration within society, more help for people to learn English, greater support for communities and a celebration of national identity.

“I will not flinch from confronting extremism. I will do everything in my power to stop those who seek to undermine our country,” Mr Javid is expected to tell civil society groups, charities and academics.

“If we are to stop extremism in its tracks we must have the courage to confront it, the strength to take decisive action, and the foresight to tackle the root causes.

“Public discourse is hardening and becoming less constructive.

“Everyone has a part to play: broadcasters who must not give a platform to extremists; police who must swoop on the worst offenders; public figures who must moderate their language.”

The speech will take place following the publication of a poll carried out by the independent Commission for Countering Extremism, which is working on a review of the threat and response to extremism in England and Wales.

Almost 3,000 people replied to the call to share their experience of extremism, the commission said.

The results show more than half (52%) of the respondents have witnessed extremism, with 45% of them saying they had seen it online and 39% of them reporting seeing it in their local area.

Of those, 59% said they had seen Islamist extremism, 37% far right extremism and 29% far left extremism.

Speaking ahead of the Home Secretary’s speech entitled Confronting Extremism Together, lead commissioner Sara Khan said: “I was shocked to see that more than half of the respondents have witnessed extremism in some way, and that two-fifths of those that had witnessed it said they’d seen it in their local area.

“The findings underline the breadth and severity of the concerns we have in 2019.

“People are scared that violent extremists will incite or carry out an attack.

“Communities are also deeply concerned about the impact of groups exploiting local tensions to spread hate and division.”

Islamic State bride Shamima Begum said she regrets speaking to the media and wishes she had found a different way to contact her family.

The teenager, who fled London aged 15 to join Islamic State’s self-proclaimed caliphate in Syria, has said she wants to return to the UK with her newborn son.

Ms Begum, who has had her British citizenship revoked, was one of three schoolgirls to leave Bethnal Green to join the terror cult in 2015 and resurfaced heavily pregnant at a Syrian refugee camp last week.

Speaking to The Sunday Telegraph from the al-Hol camp in Syria, Ms Begum said: “They are making an example of me. I regret speaking to the media. I wish I had stayed low and found a different way to contact my family. That’s why I spoke to the newspaper.”

The Home Secretary revoked Ms Begum’s British citizenship in a move only permissible under international law if it does not leave the individual stateless.

It was speculated that Ms Begum, who is of Bangladeshi heritage, may have citizenship there but Bangladesh’s minister of state for foreign affairs Shahriar Alam denied this.

Her family have written to the Home Secretary asking for his help to bring her newborn son to Britain.

The letter to Sajid Javid said the baby boy was a “true innocent” who should not “lose the privilege of being raised in the safety of this country”.

Her sister Remu Begum, writing on behalf of the family, asked how they could help the Home Secretary “in bringing my nephew home to us”.

The family said they have had no contact with Ms Begum and had only learned she had given birth to a boy through media reports.

They made clear that they were “shocked and appalled” at the “vile comments” Ms Begum had recently made to the media.

Mr Javid’s removal of her citizenship came amid heated debate over whether the teenager should be able to return to the UK after she was found in a Syrian refugee camp with the terror group’s reign nearly over.

While many do not want to see Ms Begum return to the UK, others have argued she should face prosecution for her actions, and attempts at deradicalisation.

The Begum family’s lawyer Tasnime Akunjee said she was born in the UK, has never had a Bangladeshi passport and is not a dual citizen, which was confirmed by the Bangladeshi minister.

The family of Islamic State bride Shamima Begum have written to the Home Secretary asking for his help to bring her newborn son to Britain.

The letter to Sajid Javid said the baby boy was a “true innocent” who should not “lose the privilege of being raised in the safety of this country”.

The teenager, who fled London aged 15 to join Islamic State’s self-proclaimed caliphate in Syria, said she wanted to return to the UK with her son.

Her sister Remu Begum, writing on behalf of the family, asked how they could help the Home Secretary “in bringing my nephew home to us”.

The family said they have had no contact with Ms Begum and had only learned she had given birth to a boy through media reports.

They made clear that they were “shocked and appalled” at the “vile comments” Ms Begum had recently made to the media.

Ms Begum was one of three schoolgirls to leave Bethnal Green to join the terror cult in 2015 and resurfaced heavily pregnant at a Syrian refugee camp last week.

Her family’s letter said they had made “every fathomable effort” to block her from entering IS territory.

“That year we lost Shamima to a murderous and misogynistic cult,” her sister wrote.

“My sister has been in their thrall now for four years, and it is clear to me that her exploitation at their hands has fundamentally damaged her.”

The Home Secretary revoked Ms Begum’s British citizenship in a move only permissible under international law if it does not leave the individual stateless.

It was speculated that Ms Begum, who is of Bangladeshi heritage, may have citizenship there but Bangladesh’s minister of state for foreign affairs Shahriar Alam denied this.

Appealing to the Home Secretary, the family said: “We are sickened by the comments she has made, but, as a family man yourself, we hope you will understand that we, as her family cannot simply abandon her.

“We have a duty to her, and a duty to hope that as she was groomed into what she has become, she can equally be helped back into the sister I knew, and daughter my parents bore.

“We hope you understand our position in this respect and why we must, therefore, assist Shamima in challenging your decision to take away the one thing that is her only hope at rehabilitation, her British citizenship.

“Shamima’s status will now be a matter for our British courts to decide in due course.”

Ms Begum earlier told Sky News she had no desire to go to Bangladesh: “I don’t have anything there, another language, I have never even seen the place.”

Mr Javid’s removal of her citizenship came amid heated debate over whether the teenager should be able to return to the UK after she was found in a Syrian refugee camp with the terror group’s reign nearly over.

The Begum family’s lawyer Tasnime Akunjee said she was born in the UK, has never had a Bangladeshi passport and is not a dual citizen, which was confirmed by the Bangladeshi minister.

Mr Alam added: “So, there is no question of her being allowed to enter into Bangladesh.”

Asked about the situation on ITV’s Peston, Mr Javid said: “I’m not going to talk about an individual, but I can be clear on the point that I would not take a decision and I believe none of my predecessors ever have taken a decision that at the point the decision is taken would leave that individual stateless.”

He also suggested to the Commons that action to bar her from returning will not impact her son’s rights.

“If a parent does lose their British citizenship, it does not affect the rights of their child,” he said.

The British Nationality Act 1981 provides the Home Secretary with the power to strip people of citizenship if it is “conducive to the public good”.

Meanwhile, the Government’s chief adviser on countering extremism warned radical Islamists could exploit the unease caused by Mr Javid’s move.

Independent adviser Sara Khan said: “The Government has to recognise the unease felt by a wide range of people about decisions of this kind, not least those from minority communities with dual nationality.

“It has to build trust in its approach, because Islamist extremists will exploit alienation and grievance to turn people against their country.”

Islamic State bride Shamima Begum, who fled to Syria aged 15, is not a Bangladeshi citizen and will be barred from entering the country, its foreign ministry has said.

The 19-year-old from London said she wanted to return to the UK with her newborn baby, with the end of the so-called caliphate in Syria within sight.

But Home Secretary Sajid Javid revoked her British citizenship in a move only permissible under international law if it does not leave the individual stateless.

There had been speculation that Ms Begum, who is of Bangladeshi heritage, may have citizenship there but its minister of state for foreign affairs Shahriar Alam denied this on Wednesday.

A statement tweeted by the minister said: “The Government of Bangladesh is deeply concerned that she has been erroneously identified as a holder of dual citizenship shared with Bangladesh alongside her birthplace, the United Kingdom.

“Bangladesh asserts that Ms Shamima Begum is not a Bangladeshi citizen.

She is a British citizen by birth and has never applied for dual nationality with Bangladesh.

“It may also be mentioned that she never visited Bangladesh in the past despite her parental lineage.

“So, there is no question of her being allowed to enter into Bangladesh.”

The statement added that Dhaka had only been made aware of the situation by the media.

Asked whether she had been left stateless by Britain, the Begum family’s lawyer Tasnime Akunjee said: “It’s certainly something we will be adding to the mix in terms of our appeal.”

He has said Ms Begum was born in the UK, has never had a Bangladeshi passport and is not a dual citizen.

Asked about the situation on ITV’s Peston, Mr Javid said: “I’m not aware of any Home Secretary in any party in any previous government that has taken a decision that would leave anyone stateless.

“I’m not going to talk about an individual, but I can be clear on the point that I would not take a decision and I believe none of my predecessors ever have taken a decision that at the point the decision is taken would leave that individual stateless.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “In recent days the Home Secretary has clearly stated that his priority is the safety and security of Britain and the people who live here.

“In order to protect this country, he has the power to deprive someone of their British citizenship where it would not render them stateless.

“We do not comment on individual cases, but any decisions to deprive individuals of their citizenship are based on all available evidence and not taken lightly.”

She was one of three schoolgirls to leave Bethnal Green to join the terror cult in 2015 and resurfaced heavily pregnant at a Syrian refugee camp last week.

On Wednesday, she was shown a copy of the Home Office letter that announced her British citizenship would be stripped.

She told ITV News: “I don’t know what to say. I am not that shocked but I am a bit shocked.

“It’s a bit upsetting and frustrating. I feel like it’s a bit unjust on me and my son.”

She went on to say she may try for citizenship in the Netherlands, where her husband is from.

Meanwhile, Mr Javid suggested the action to prevent Ms Begum returning will have no impact on her baby son’s nationality.

While insisting he could not discuss individual cases, he told the

Commons: “Children should not suffer.

“So, if a parent does lose their British citizenship, it does not affect the rights of their child.”

He also delivered a staunch defence of the Government’s ability to use the citizenship powers to prevent the return of “dangerous individuals”.

He told MPs that the step was never taken lightly, adding: “But when someone turns their back on the fundamental values and supports terror, they don’t have an automatic right to return to the UK.

“We must put the safety and security of our country first and I will not hesitate to act to protect it.”

Ms Begum’s comments sparked intense debate about the UK’s responsibilities to those seeking to return from Syria.

The case took a dramatic turn on Tuesday when it emerged Mr Javid had opted to strip Ms Begum of her British citizenship.

The British Nationality Act 1981 provides the Home Secretary with the power to take such action if it is “conducive to the public good”.

A protracted legal battle over the move is now looming with international law forbidding nations from making people stateless.

Lord Carlile, former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said Ms Begum could challenge the decision, and described it as a “complex issue” that could take a while to resolve.

He told BBC Breakfast: “I suspect that the result is going to be that she will stay where she is for maybe two years at least.”

Figures for 2017 show that 104 people were deprived of their British citizenship, up from 14 in the previous year.