Aimee Walker
Shamima Begum has said she is ‘sorry’ for joining ISIS and begged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to let her re-enter the country so that she can ‘help’ fight terrorism.
The 22-year-old, who grew up in East London, had her British citizenship revoked by the Home Office on national security grounds after travelling to Syria, aged, 15, back in 2015.
In her first live television interview, she told Good Morning Britain she had been ‘groomed’ by extremists and claimed she didn’t know ISIS was a ‘death trap’.
Watch Shamima Begum’s first live television interview below…
She said: “No one can hate me more than I hate myself for what I’ve done and all I can say is I’m sorry and just give me a second chance.
“The only crime I think I committed was being dumb enough to come to ISIS.”
She then addressed PM, saying: “You are clearly struggling with extremism and terrorism in your country.
“I could very much help you with that because you clearly don’t know what you’re doing.
“I want them [the British public] to see me as an asset rather than a threat to them.”
Begum’s parents are of Bangladeshi descent, so she isn’t stateless and can return there. However, she claims she will be killed if she does.
Shamima Begum ‘Won’t Reveal Fellow Brits Who Joined ISIS,’ Despite Vowing To Help Tackle Terrorism
She added: “I know it’s very hard for the British people to try and forgive me because they have lived in fear of ISIS and lost loved ones because of ISIS, but I also have lived in fear of ISIS and I also lost loved ones because of ISIS, so I can sympathise with them in that way.
“I know it is very hard for them to forgive me but I say from the bottom of my heart that I am so sorry if I ever offended anyone by coming here if I ever offended anyone by the things I said.”
Begum was married to a Dutch jihadi, with whom she had three children. However, she revealed in the interview that they have all died.
Currently, she staying at the Al-Roj detention centre camp in Syria while her husband is in a Kurdish-run prison.
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