Maya Foa, chief executive of Reprieve, a nonprofit organisation that helps victims of human rights abuses, said: “This is a reality check for the Government’s failed policy.
“Abandoning British men, women and children in dangerously unstable prison camps was always an unsustainable and indefensibly weak approach. The US repatriated its people long ago and has consistently urged Britain to do the same.”
She urged the Government to “take action before it’s too late”.
Dominic Grieve, the former attorney general, said: “In our report, we made clear that she is the responsibility of the UK. At the end of the day, we are going to have to shoulder that responsibility.”
As recently as September, Donald Trump’s administration urged Britain to take back detained IS fighters and families.
Begum was stripped of her citizenship on the grounds she was a dual Bangladeshi national. Bangladesh has since ruled she is not a citizen, leaving her effectively stateless.
David Davis, the Conservative MP, said the issue was the only one on which he had received a personal visit from the US State Department.
“There are three reasons for bringing her back,” he said. “One, she should never have gone. Two, it’s better for our security that she is back and not left to find a way of coming back illegally, potentially as a terrorist in the future. Thirdly there is a risk to their lives.”
