Update on Begum vs UK Home Office
It appears that Shamima Begum’s lawyers have decided not to go to the UK Supreme Court. They had until yesterday to decide to escalate her case to the highest court in the land following last Friday’s Court of Appeal judgement that the UK government did not unlawfully deprive Begum of her UK citizenship.
Photo by abdullah ali on Unsplash
It appears that Shamima Begum’s lawyers have decided not to go to the UK Supreme Court. They had until yesterday to decide to escalate her case to the highest court in the land following last Friday’s Court of Appeal judgement that the UK government did not unlawfully deprive Begum of her UK citizenship. The news is silent on their next steps. This makes astrological sense as Saturn, representing Begum’s legal team, is still obscured by solar light.
Pluto crowns the chart for last week’s hearing showing that Shamima Begum’s return to the UK is firmly prohibited. It also shows that the Court of Appeal’s ruling is irreversible. Begum, who is effectively stateless, remains in the al-Roj detention camp in north eastern Syria [1].
When the court said its ‘only task is to assess whether the deprivation decision was unlawful’ [2] it meant that the court’s remit is restricted to determining whether the Home Secretary’s decision to remove Begum’s British citizenship was properly made, not whether they agreed with it.
The proceedings were livestreamed because this case raises serious questions about the circumstances in which the UK government can rescind a person’s citizenship. Begum was born British in 1999.
Since the British Nationality Act 1981 came into effect on 1 January 1983 [3], being born in the UK is not enough to make you British. Your mother or father must also be a British citizen or ‘settled’ in the UK at the time of your birth. What legally counts as being ‘British’ has invited further challenges since Brexit [4].
Statute provides that the Home Secretary cannot deprive a person of British citizenship if it would render them stateless. Home Secretary Sajid Javid asserted that as Begum is the child of immigrant parents of Bangladeshi origin, she theoretically had access to Bangladeshi citizenship. Begum has never been to Bangladesh and the country had already refused to have her. Former Justice of the Supreme Court Jonathan Sumption described Javid’s argument as a ‘legal fiction’ adding, ‘children who make a terrible mistake are surely redeemable. But statelessness is for ever’ [5].
The Home Secretary’s decision on Begum’s citizenship sets a chilling precedent for any citizen whose parents are not born in the UK to have their British citizenship revoked as a purely legal manoeuvre, with no practical application [6].
Sajid Javid deemed Begum to be a risk to national security when he took away her British citizenship from her. In the Court of Appeal, Begum's lawyers argued she was groomed to join Isis group as a minor. Ten days after she arrived in Raqqa, Syria as a 15 year-old, Begum was married to Yago Riedijk, a Dutch Muslim convert. They had three children - a one-year-old girl, a three-month-old boy and a newborn son - all of whom died from malnourishment or disease [7]. The Moon’s separating square from Uranus describes how harshly and abruptly the childhoods of Begum and her offspring ended. The Moon’s placement on the fifth house cusp emphasises the childhood theme. This whole story stems from a misguided childhood decision which is now coming back to haunt Begum as a 24 year-old, as shown by the Moon’s applying opposition to Mercury, her significator.
It has been said that a civilised country would not have made Shamima Begum stateless [8]. The chart for the Court of Appeal hearing confirms that Shamima Beguma was highly unlikely to get justice. Jupiter, the astrological significator for justice, resides in the chart’s darkest house and has no dignity. The natural significator for truth, the Sun, is besieged by Saturn and an afflicted Mercury, and also lacks dignity despite residing in the house of freedom. The house ruling the court judgement contains elevated, angular Pluto with Venus and Mars, rulers of the houses of slavery and imprisonment.
As Mercury and Saturn conjoined the Sun last Wednesday, Begum’s excellent legal team probably surrendered to the hard truth of this situation. The Court of Appeal’s constitutionally legitimate refusal to pronounce on matters of public policy would very likely be upheld by the Supreme Court. Begum’s lawyers have been doing their very best to seek redress for what are essentially political problems via judicial means. The judiciary are not supposed to pronounce on matters that fall within Parliament’s realm of responsibility. Saturn represents the judges as well Begum’s lawyers. All their hands are tied. It is the Home Secretary’s job to resolve Begum’s predicament, as shown by Jupiter’s disposition of Mercury and Saturn. Further legislation, which has to be initiated in and then passed by Parliament, is the only way to ensure that no-one else risks being stripped of their British status on spurious grounds.
References
Shamima Begum Loses Appeal to Overturn Removal of UK Citizenship
A short while ago, the Court of Appeal upheld the Special Immigration Appeals Commission’s decision that the government acted lawfully in 2019 when it removed Shamima Begum’s UK citizenship. The chart for today’s proceedings unequivocally shows that Begum’s bid to restore citizenship would fail.
Photo by Ethan Wilkinson on Unsplash
Earlier this morning in the Court of Appeal, Lady Chief Justice Carr, Lord Justice Bean and Lady Justice Whipple upheld the Special Immigration Appeals Commission’s 2023 decision that the government acted lawfully in 2019 when it removed Shamima Begum’s UK citizenship [1].
East Londoner Begum travelled to Syria as a 15 year old in 2015 to join the Isis group. Her citizenship was revoked on national security grounds shortly after she was found in a Syrian refugee camp in February 2019.
In her judgement, the Head of the Court of Appeal Lady Chief Justice Carr noted that the court’s ‘only task is to assess whether the deprivation decision was unlawful [2]. We have concluded it was not and the appeal is dismissed’.
The chart for the start of today’s proceedings unequivocally shows that Begum’s bid to overturn last year’s decision would fail.
Begum is shown by Mercury who has just entered Pisces, its weakest zone of influence in the zodiac circle. This sign change alone is enough to anticipate the outcome. Supporting testimony is required to strengthen the reliability of this astrological judgement.
Here, Mercury is combust and will then be cazimi, or blinded by the Sun, on 28 February, as will Saturn. Neither Begum nor her legal team are well placed to begin with in this matter and their condition is worsening. The Moon’s applying opposition to Mercury also counts against Begum. All these factors strongly indicate that the court would not rule in her favour today.
Both Mercury and Saturn are ruled by Jupiter who signifies the UK Home Office. This describes how the question of Begum’s UK citizenship ultimately lies in the hands of the Home Secretary.
Finally, Pluto in a fixed sign on a fixed midheaven argues that today’s ruling will render Begum powerless to return to the UK. Her legal team have until next Friday to decide to appeal today’s legal judgement.
