Dozens of jihadists are set to claim right to return to UK after High Court judges ruled it was unlawful to strip grandmother ISIS suspect of her British citizenship

• Woman, from the north of England, had her rights as UK national revoked in 2019
• The grandmother, known as D4, travelled to Syria and was a suspected ISIS ally
• She remains in al-Roj camp, the same compound that houses Shamima Begum 
• But High Court judges ruled that was unlawful and say she is still a British citizen 
• Home Office is understood to be considering an appeal to their legal decision 

A grandmother who was stripped of her British citizenship over fears she was an ISIS sympathiser has won a High Court battle that has sparked fear among ministers who believe dozens of jihadists will return to the UK. 

The woman known only as D4, from the north of England, had her rights as a UK national revoked in 2019 over national security fears.

She had reportedly travelled to the Middle East to ‘align with the so-called Islamic State’ and she remains in the same camp in al-Roj, north east Syria that houses Shamima Begum.  

High Court judges ruled Friday that the move to suspend her rights as a UK national was unlawful because the Home Office failed to inform her it was doing so, reports the Times.

Their legal verdict did not dispute the decision to remove her citizenship, rather the method of doing so. 

Whitehall sources say that legal decision has sparked fresh fears among ministers that a new precedent could allow ‘dozens’ of jihadists to claim the right to return to the UK.

A senior minister reportedly described the ruling as ‘nuts’, while a second warned the move will open the prospect of ‘national security risks’ being sent back to the UK, according to the Times. 

The woman known only as D4, from the north of England, had her rights as a UK national revoked in 2019 over national security fears. She now resides in the Al-Roj camp in north Syria (above), that also houses Shamima Begum

D4’s citizenship was removed in December 2019, although her legal team say were not informed until October 2020 and had requested her repatriation.

The High Court’s ruling said: ‘ You do not ‘give’ someone ‘notice’ of something by putting the notice in your desk drawer and locking it. 

‘The Home Secretary’s failure to give notice of her decision to deprive D4 of her citizenship invalidates the order… D4 remains a British citizen.

‘The judgment also refers to a case D4 was involved in at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission this year. 

‘The papers from that case reveal that the grandmother is being detained with her two adult daughters in Roj camp. 

‘One of her daughters, identified as C8, was stripped of her citizenship in April 2017 and has two daughters, aged 3 and 4, born under the caliphate.’ 

Home Secretary Priti Patel and the Home Office are understood to be considering an appeal against the decision. 

Home Secretary Priti Patel (above) and the Home Office are understood to be considering an appeal against the decision

Over 900 British citizens are understood to have made the trip to the Middle East to join the so-called Islamic state and other groups sympathetic with jihadists.

At least 100 of these Brits have had their rights as UK national revoked.  

Whitehall sources say they believe suspected jihadists could now use the precedent set by this latest ruling to force a return to British shores.

A Home Office spokesman said: ‘The government will always take the strongest possible action to protect our national security and the priority remains the safety of our citizens. 

‘We are carefully considering the implications of this ruling, including an application to appeal.’ 

Around 800 families live in the Al-Roj camp, close to the borders with Turkey and Iran and much-preferred to the infamous Al-Hol centre 80 miles away and home to 15,000 families. 

Ringed by a high fence to prevent escapes, it has a nursery, school, playground, health centre and scores of shops selling fresh produce.

Male Isis fighters are kept away in separate camps and prisons.

Shamima Begum (above) was 15 when she and two other east London schoolgirls travelled to Syria to join the so-called Islamic State group in February 2015 and marry jihadis

Shamima Begum, who was recently described as posing ‘no threat’ to the UK by a diplomat, currently resides in Al-Roj.

Ms Begum was 15 when she and two other east London schoolgirls travelled to Syria to join the so-called Islamic State group in February 2015 and marry jihadis.

Now 21, she is challenging the Home Office’s decision to remove her British citizenship and has asked a specialist tribunal to consider whether she was a victim of trafficking when she travelled to Syria.

The Home Office says she is a threat to national security and should not be allowed to return to the UK or be a British citizen. They claim she is not stateless because her parents are from Bangladesh.

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