Canada said it would investigate the claims that its spy agency smuggled Shamima Begum and two other British teenagers into Syria in 2015.
Reports said a trafficker recruited by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) helped the girls reach Syria where ISIS was threatening to take control of the Middle-Eastern country.
Begum, aged 15 at the time, and her two friends were studying in east London’s Bethnal Green Academy when the alleged trafficking took place.
Begum, of Bangladeshi origin, was stripped of her British passport in 2019 and the UK Supreme Court ruled that she could not return to Britain to appeal against the government action.
Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau said he would “look at” the claims of their smuggling and asserted that intelligence agencies were expected to follow “strict rules”.
At the same time, he said intelligence services should be “flexible and creative in their approaches… in their work to keep Canada and Canadians safe in a very dangerous world.”
“I know there are questions about certain incidents or operations of the past and we will ensure to follow up on those,” the Canadian prime minister said.
He said his country would “continue to ensure that proper oversight is done” and “look at further steps.”
Well-known author Richard Kerbaj’s book ‘The Secret History of the Five Eyes,’ claimed that CSIS had recruited ISIS supporter Mohammed al-Rashed as a double agent during his visit to Canada’s embassy in Jordan.
But Turkey arrested him later and discovered that he had travel documents, including bus tickets, belonging to Begun and her friends.
Kerbaj claims in the book that Canada privately admitted it worked with al-Rashed and asked for the UK’s help to cover up the matter.
According to him, Ottawa could have stopped the smuggling of the girls into the war-ravaged country.
Now aged 23, Begum is currently held in a detention camp in north-east Syria. One of her school friends – Kadiza Sultana – reportedly died during a Russian airstrike in Raqqa, while the other – identified as Amira Abase, is missing.
