ISIS bride who took three children to Syria should 'return to UK and face the consequences' says mother

Nicole Jack and her daughters - aged 12, 9 and 7 - are in Syria's Roj camp, photo courtesy of BBC News
Nicole Jack and her daughters - aged 12, 9 and 7 - are in Syria's Roj camp, photo courtesy of BBC News
Samantha Haynes

By Samantha Haynes


Published: 07/10/2021

- 11:21

Updated: 14/02/2023

- 11:33

A woman who went to Syria and is in a refugee camp with her three children should be allowed to return to the UK to 'face the consequences' says her mother

Nicole Jack went to Syria and is now in a refugee camp with her three children.

The youngsters were taken from their home in London by Nicole Jack and her first husband, Hussein Ali, to join the so-called Islamic State (IS) group in 2015.


The children’s grandmother, Charleen Jack-Henry, who is a London-based nurse, said it is not fair or right that the youngsters are now “languishing” in a Kurdish-run camp in Syria.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, she said: “Let her (Nicole) come and face the consequences. But it is not fair and it is not right for these children to be languishing in this place. Enough is enough.

“They’ve already served a six-year sentence without even having the benefit of being taken to court and being tried by your peers.”

The children’s father died fighting for IS and their only brother, Isaaq, was killed in an air strike in front of them when he was 10, the programme said.

Ms Jack said she does not understand how she can be viewed as a security risk for going to Syria, saying the decision to travel there was about her family being together.

Asked why she had taken her children – now aged between seven and 12 – to live in Islamic State territory, she told Today: “I don’t think, even if I explained it, everyone would understand. But from my point of view, where I stand, firstly, it was about my family being together.

“And honestly, secondly, what may have happened, we’ve never been witness to it, my children and I, honestly, you know, I haven’t seen a beheading in my life.”

Asked if she could ever see herself sending her children to the UK without her, she said: “To be honest, for us as a family we cope together. I know for sure if my kids were separated from me they will not be in a stable situation, because we are a unit.”

When it was suggested to her that there is a concern that women like her are a security risk, she said: “To be honest, from that point of view also, I don’t understand it. I’ll be honest, I really never understood where people would say someone who went to Syria was a security risk, because they actually left the country.

“They didn’t cause harm to a country being inside of it without doing something.”

She told the BBC the Government should “open up a dialogue” and “at least try to understand why or what was the situation”, rather than “having just a closed mind”.

A Government spokesman said: “Our priority is to ensure the safety and security of the UK. Those who remain in Syria include dangerous individuals who chose to stay to fight or otherwise support a group that committed atrocious crimes including butchering and beheading innocent civilians.

“It is important that we do not make judgments about the national security risk someone poses based on their gender or age.”

The Government said it has been clear that those who have fought for or supported IS should face justice in the most appropriate jurisdiction, adding that that will often be where their offences have been committed.

It added that, where the Government becomes aware of unaccompanied or orphaned British children, it will work with partners to facilitate their return to the UK where feasible, subject to national security concerns and identity and nationality checks.

Last month, former IS-bride Shamima Begum asked the British public for forgiveness, saying in an interview from a Syrian refugee camp that there is “no evidence” she was a key player in preparing terrorist acts and is prepared to prove her innocence in court.

Following her comments, Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who was home secretary when the decision was made to strip Begum of her British citizenship, poured cold water on the prospect of overturning the ruling.

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