'I don't regret coming here', says British schoolgirl who ran away to join ISIS
A British woman, who ran away at 15 years old to join the so-called Islamic State (IS) in Syria, has said in a recent interview that while she doesn't regret leaving, she would now like to return home, Euronews reported.
Shamima Begum, now 19, was one of a group of three British schoolgirls who left London for Syria in 2015 after telling her family that she was going on a day out. Speaking to The Times from al-Hawl refugee camp in northern Syria, a heavily pregnant Begum said she wanted to return to the UK, as she was worried for the well-being of her unborn child.
She said she had given birth to two other children in her four years with the militant group, but both had since died.
Speaking specifically of the time her husband, a Dutch fighter, was tortured for several months following accusations of spying, she said: "There was a lot of similar oppressions of innocent people." "In some cases fighters who had fought for the caliphate were executed as spies even though they were innocent."
Despite the oppression and violence witnessed, Begum said she didn't regret leaving. "I’m not the same silly little 15-year-old schoolgirl who ran away from Bethnal Green four years ago," she said. "And I don't regret coming here."