British School Girl Who Left The UK To Join IS Now Wants To Come Home

Shamima Begum was located in a refugee camp in northern Syria (Picture: Met Police/PA).

A schoolgirl who fled London four years ago to join the so-called Islamic State (IS) now wants to come home.

The Times newspaper reports finding 19-year-old Shamima Begum in a refugee camp in northern Syria.

The woman, who is heavily pregnant, wants to give birth to her third child in Britain, as her first two babies died of malnutrition and her husband is in captivity.

Speaking to The Times, she said: "I don't regret coming here.

"I'm not the same silly little 15-year-old girl who ran away from Bethnal Green four years ago".

She also described the caliphate as being over: "There was so much oppression and corruption that I don't think they deserved victory.

"I know what everyone at home thinks of me as I have read all that was written about me online. But I just want to come home to have my child. That's all I want right now.

"I'll do anything required just to be able to come home and live quietly with my child."

Shamima Begum, along with two other schoolgirls Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abas, left their family homes in February 2015.

According to The Times, they each married an IS foreign fighter.

It is believed that Kadiza Sultana was killed in and air strike on Raqqa in 2016. 

Ms Begum was married 10 days after arriving in Raqqa. She then left in 2017 with her 21-month-old daughter and three-month-old son. Both children have since died from malnutrition. 

Apart from this, she described her life in Raqqa as mostly normal, with "bombing and stuff" happening every now and then.

"But when I saw my first severed head in a bin it didn't faze me at all. It was from a captured fighter seized on the battlefield, an enemy of Islam.

"I thought only of what he would have done to a Muslim woman if he had the chance."

The Home Office responded saying that it does not comment on individual cases, although anyone who returns to the UK after travelling to IS territory faces criminal investigation and stricter laws are now in place.

Security Minister Ben Wallace said: "Everyone who returns from taking part in the conflict in Syria or Iraq must expect to be investigated by the police to determine if they have committed criminal offences, and to ensure that they do not pose a threat to our national security.

"There are a range of terrorism offences where individuals can be convicted for crimes committed overseas and we can also use Temporary Exclusion Orders to control an individuals' return to the UK."

Tasnime Akunjee, a lawyer who was instructed by the Bethnal Green girls' families after they ran away, said he was "glad (Ms Begum) is alive and safe".