THE decision to strip Shamima Begum of her British citizenship is unlawful, a court heard today.

Ms Begum, 20, left Britain in February 2015 and lived under Isis rule for more than three years.

She was found, nine months pregnant, in a Syrian refugee camp in February this year.

Former home secretary Sajid Javid revoked her British citizenship, a decision her lawyers argue was unlawful as it rendered her stateless.

Ms Begum is bringing proceedings against the Home Office before the High Court and the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).

The Home Office says the decision did not render Begum stateless.

At the start of a four-day preliminary hearing in London yesterday, Tom Hickman QC told Ms Justice Elisabeth Laing that the court had to determine “whether the deprivation decision rendered the applicant stateless.”

Mr Hickman told the court that lawyers for the Home Office had recently sent a letter to Begum’s lawyers in relation to the al-Roj camp in Syria, where Begum is being held.

He said the letter, dated October 18, “expressed the view or the assessment that Camp al-Roj is likely to be unguarded and any detainees are free to leave, without reference to any corroborating material.”

Mr Hickman added: “As far as we are aware nothing material has changed at al-Roj, albeit that the environment there is incredibly fragile and dangerous.”

In his written submissions, Mr Hickman said Begum “is not considered a national of Bangladesh and was therefore rendered stateless by the deprivation decision.”

He said that Begum could face the death penalty in Bangladesh, adding: “There have been as many as 2,000 staged killings of individuals suspected of involvement with extremist groups since 2001.”

Ms Justice Elisabeth Laing is expected to reserve her judgment.