The home secretary’s decision set a terrible precedent, in that it suggested that any British citizen with a parent born abroad or with foreign nationality is literally a second-class citizen
Sajid Javid, the home secretary, cannot be held responsible for the death of Shamima Begum’s son Jarrah. We do not know why the baby died and so we cannot know whether he might have survived if he had been brought to the UK.
All we can say is that Mr Javid’s decision to block Ms Begum’s return to this country was wrong, and seemed to be driven more by his ambition to succeed Theresa May as prime minister than by a dispassionate assessment of his obligations under international law.
It was wrong because Ms Begum – and therefore her child – is this country’s responsibility, whatever we may think of her travelling to Syria to join Isis.
Mr Javid’s decision to refuse her entry to this country because she was entitled to Bangladeshi citizenship was opportunistic. His case collapsed within hours when Bangladesh said it refused to take responsibility for her, as it was entitled to do because she had never been to the country.
The home secretary’s decision set a terrible precedent, in that it suggested that any British citizen with a parent born abroad or with foreign nationality is literally a second-class citizen – in that they might be treated differently from someone with no notional ties to another country.
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Categories: The Muslim Times
I wonder if the fact that the home minister is a Muslim himself had anything to do with his decision. Did he have to show that he is ‘tougher than the tough’ on the jihadis?