DOCUMENTARY “THE SHAMIMA BEGUM STORY” ABOUT A BRITISH TEENAGER WHO JOINED ISIS WINS A BAFTA

Mon 13 May 2024:

The team member involved in creating the documentary about Shamima Begum, the London-born woman who joined ISIS at the age of 15, expressed profound surprise at winning at the 2024 Bafta TV awards.

Titled “The Shamima Begum Story,” the documentary delves into the controversial and much-debated journey of Begum, and it clinched victory in the current affairs category at the 2024 British Academy of Film and Television Arts TV awards.

Begum, the daughter of Bangladeshi immigrants, traveled to Syria in 2015 with two school friends from the East London academy, earning them the moniker “Bethnal Green Girls.” Shortly after her arrival, she married an ISIS fighter and tragically lost all three of her children.

Directed by investigative journalist Joshua Baker, “The Shamima Begum Story” encapsulates Begum’s personal narrative and took eight years to complete.

Baker said during his acceptance speech: “When you take on one of the most contentious stories in Britain, life rewards you with one major thing, and that is this incredible group of people who I’ve got to work with, who were there for the majority of it and really gave everything they have to make it the film that it is.”

In 2019, Begum’s UK citizenship was revoked following her discovery in the al-Hawl refugee camp in northern Syria. Facing threats to her life, she was relocated to al-Roj, where she reportedly resides today. Despite her efforts, Begum has been unsuccessful in returning to the UK.

Abou Fakher who wrote music for the project also mentioned Begum in his thoughts on social media, saying that her “story is more important now than ever”. He added: “As we celebrate this win, she still sits in a camp in Syria, unable to go home to the UK.”

British intelligence knew of Canada’s role in trafficking Shamima Begum to Syria

British intelligence agencies were aware of their Canadian counterpart’s involvement in trafficking Shamima Begum and other Britons to Syria only days after it took place, sources have reportedly revealed.

According to the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail , two anonymous sources with knowledge of the matter confirmed that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) had informed the British intelligence agencies, MI5 and MI6, that one of its operatives – a double agent working for both the CSIS and Daesh – was responsible for smuggling Shamima Begum and two of her schoolgirl friends into Syria to join Daesh.

The information was passed onto the two British agencies within 48 hours of the operation taking place, making it likely that they knew of the teens’ whereabouts and situation before London’s Metropolitan police at Scotland Yard did.

Canadian intelligence’s role in the trafficking of British schoolgirls into Syria was first revealed in August by Richard Kerbaj, former security correspondent of The Sunday Times, in his book ‘The Secret History of the Five Eyes’.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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