Skip to main content
The Morning Star 2026 Conference
Government rules out helping runaway teenager back home

THE government appears to have ruled out helping a runaway London teenager return to Britain after she finally surfaced this week in a Syrian refugee camp.

Shamima Begum went missing four years ago aged just 15. The schoolgirl from Bethnal Green disappeared with two friends and joined Isis militants in Syria.     ​

On Wednesday The Times tracked her down to a camp where she told its reporter that she wanted to return home and was nine-months’ pregnant.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
People cross the damaged Al-Rashid Bridge on foot, destroyed by retreating Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) troops, a day after Syrian government troops took control of the area on the outskirts of Raqqa, northeastern Syria, January 19, 2026
Syria / 21 January 2026
21 January 2026
SEIZED: Mohammed Ibrahim, whose welfare is of increasing concern. Photo: Zaher Ibrahim
Features / 27 November 2025
27 November 2025

Groups are urging the US government to secure the 16-year old’s release as his mental and physical health decline dramatically after nine months inside Ofer prison, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER