We need to re-evaluate our treatment of Shamima Begum

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Begum’s case should be sensitively investigated (PA)

It’s interesting to see that the government believes that a 16-year-old is too young to apply for a gender recognition certificate, saying instead that they need to be at least 18 in order to be responsible enough for such an application.

And yet they continue to persecute Shamima Begum for the decisions she made at just 15 – that is, three years younger than the government’s estimated age of maturity. Despite the evidence that suggests Begum and her friends were victims of trafficking, the government has continually refused to reinstate her citizenship.

Begum’s case should be sensitively investigated in the light that she may have been unduly influenced while underage.