What was claimed
Shamima Begum is back in the UK.
Our verdict
As of October 2020 this is not true.
Shamima Begum is not back in the UK
8 October 2020
A post shared hundreds of times on Facebook has claimed that Shamima Begum, the woman who left the UK as a teenager in 2015 to go to Syria, has been allowed back into the UK. It also claims her protection and legal aid has all been paid for by the taxpayer.
It is not true that Ms Begum is back in the UK. We have seen this claim numerous times, and it has never been correct.
In July, it was ruled by the Court of Appeal that Ms Begum should be allowed to come to the UK to fight the decision to remove her British citizenship. The Home Office is due to appeal this decision at the Supreme Court next month.
Cherie Blair’s office has previously confirmed to us that neither she nor her law firm has ever represented Ms Begum.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as false because Ms Begum has not been allowed back into the UK.