Life after ISIS: the problem of the Islamic State foreign fighters

Abstract

After the collapse of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria many states faced the problem of the foreign fighters wanting to return. Some governments refused to accept their citizens arguing that they pose too much of a threat to the public. Are the governments across the world justified to revoke the citizenships of the former members of the Caliphate? Do states have a responsibility for their own citizens and are obligated to help them no matter the circumstances? These are the questions that this article examines from the legal and political point of view. The article examines a high profile case study of Shamima Begun – a former jihadi wife, who travelled to Syria as a teenager, caught in a battle for her British citizenship