LONDON: A British Muslim woman returning home to the UK from a holiday in Turkey claimed she was detained by police because she has a similar name as Daesh bride Shamima Begum.
Shamina Begum, who was returning to Manchester Airport, said she was asked if she “thinks bombing is okay,” and was told to seek assistance from UK Border Force staff because they said her name was the same as that belonging to “someone of interest.”
Begum, who had been traveling with her partner, alleged that five officers detained her under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
She also claimed her mobile phone and handbag were seized before having her DNA and fingerprints taken and being questioned for three hours over her name, her Muslim faith and even her mortgage.
In what Begum called a “humiliating” ordeal, she said she was also forced to go to an airport bathroom to relieve herself in an unlocked cubicle with a male officer present, all while being on her period.
“I’m traumatized,” she told The Independent newspaper. “At first I was confused — I’ve travelled to many destinations previously and never had this problem,” she added.
Begum was eventually released with no further action taken against her.
“After I was let go, I cried all the way from the airport to my house and I couldn’t face the outside world for about four weeks,” she said. “In the immediate days after this happened, I’d wake up every day and wish I had not. I’m not a terrorist and didn’t deserve to be treated that way. It was a dark and difficult time which still impacts me, unfortunately.
“It was so humiliating and I could not say anything. It’s easy for the police to hand people a leaflet about what a Schedule 7 stop is…but what about aftercare? It’s taken me six months to talk about it properly.”
Begum complained to Greater Manchester Police about her treatment, who declined to comment on the case, and her complaint was not upheld by police staff who claimed the stop was justified and handled correctly.
She has now lodged an appeal against the decision, and added: “If it isn’t down to my race and religion, why aren’t police stopping every white person who walks through the airport? It’s always the brown and Black people who are targeted.
“It wasn’t just the fact that I was stopped; it was the kind of questions I was asked. Just because I am a Muslim with a Muslim name and background, it doesn’t make me a terrorist.”
Shamima Begum was 15 when she left her home in London, traveled through Turkey and into Daesh-held territory, before having her British citizenship revoked in February 2019.
She is currently in a Syrian camp for former Daesh brides and their families and is fighting a legal battle with the British government over the stripping of her citizenship.