JIHADI bride Shamima Begum is likely to cost taxpayers up to £7million in legal bills after refusing to accept the latest defeat in her citizenship row.
Begum, considered a threat to national security, had her plea to get her UK passport back rejected by judges.
Her fight to return home has already cost more than £250,000 in legal aid, with experts estimating that could hit as much as £7million if she now takes her case to the Supreme Court.
Paul Fulcher of The Legal Costs Experts told The Sun: “I can see this reaching £7million.
“It can only get higher with the way this case it going. It’s a huge cost to the taxpayer.”
Yesterday’s Court of Appeal dismissal of the fresh legal challenge by Begum was hailed as the best outcome for Britain.
Begum was 15 when she travelled from Bethnal Green, East London, to Syria to join IS. Within weeks she was wed to a jihadi, 27, from the Netherlands. She had three children who all died.
Begum, now 24, was stripped of her British citizenship in 2019 on national security grounds and is in a refugee camp in Syria.
Last year she lost an appeal against the decision at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission.
And yesterday three judges unanimously dismissed Begum’s legal bid to overturn that ruling.
Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, sitting with Lord Justice Bean and Lady Justice Whipple, said: “It could be argued the decision in Ms Begum’s case was harsh. It could also be argued Ms Begum is the author of her own misfortune.
“But it is not for this court to agree or disagree. The only task of the court was to assess whether the deprivation decision was unlawful. Since it was not, Ms Begum’s appeal is dismissed.”
Ex-immigration minister Robert Jenrick insisted: “This is the right decision. British citizenship is a great privilege. People who hate our country, threaten it, associate with those who murder our citizens and Armed Forces should not rely upon its blessings. National security must always come first.”
Ms Begum’s legal team, who claim she is a potential trafficking victim, could now seek permission to challenge the ruling in the Supreme Court or European Court of Human Rights.
Solicitor Daniel Furner said: “We are going to keep fighting.”
No10 said: “We’re pleased the court has found in favour of the Government.”
Shamima Begum - how she fled UK for Syria
Begum and two pals – Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase – ran away to Syria in February 2015.
She used her elder sister’s passport to flee with her Bethnal Green Academy friends.
The trio flew to Turkey and then crossed the border into Syria with the aid of smugglers.
Within weeks of arriving, Shamima was married to Isis jihadi Yago Riedijk, 27, from Holland.
They had two children who died from malnutrition and disease.
The couple were separated as they fled Baghouz, the village where a few hundred Isis fighters were holed up in a desperate last stand.
Shamima ended up in a Kurdish refugee camp where she gave birth to her third child.
Eldest sister Renu revealed that her family had lost contact with her for the “longest time” until she was found by a Times journalist.
Home Secretary Sajid Javid stripped her of her UK citizenship to stop her from ever coming back.
Begum then lost a legal battle to return to the UK for a court appeal over the removal of her British citizenship in February 2021.
The Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favour of the Government and said she cannot come back to the UK for a court case to reclaim her British passport for the safety of the public.
Lord Reed said her legal bid to reclaim her British citizenship should be postponed until she is no longer considered a threat to national security.
Begum launched an appeal at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) in 2022 while languishing at a refugee camp.
She later lost this bid but her lawyers launched another the Court of Appeal.
This was dismissed by judges, who found the SIAC ruling was lawful.