Jarrah, the baby son of Shamima Begum, a teenager who fled the UK to join Islamic State in Syria, may have died, according to her family’s lawyer.
Tasnime Akunjee tweeted: “We have strong but as yet unconfirmed reports that Shamima Begum’s son has died. He was a British Citizen.”
However, defence and security editor for the Daily Mail Larisa Brown countered: “Not sure what is correct but being told Jerah is still alive by those in Roj Camp.” Sky News also cited sources contradicting earlier reports, claiming the boy is “alive and healthy.”
Begum fled east London at the age of 15 to travel to Syria to marry an Isis fighter in 2015, at a time when the group’s online recruitment programme was luring many impressionable young people to its self-proclaimed caliphate.
The 19-year-old resurfaced in February at a refugee camp in Syria with her new baby, who is believed to have been born last month. She has already lost two other children to malnutrition and disease.
Begum is said to have told reporters she wanted to come home with her new baby. In an interview with The Times, she said: “After my two kids died I just, now I’m really overprotective of this baby. I’m scared that this baby’s going to get sick in this camp.
“That’s why I really want to get back to Britain, because I know it will be taken care of, health-wise at least.
However, British Home Secretary Sajid Javid revoked her citizenship, despite saying he would not make a decision that would render a person stateless.
Her family, who pledged to appeal against the decision, also wrote to Javid pleading with him to allow a safe passage for the boy to come to the UK.
Last month, Javid confirmed the boy was a British citizen and said he had considered the child’s interest when deciding to revoke Begum’s citizenship.
Asked whether there was any plan for Begum’s son, Javid told the Commons Home Affairs Committee it would be “incredibly difficult” for the government to facilitate the return of a child from Syria.
“If it is possible somehow for a British child to be brought to a place where there is a British consular presence, the closest place - it might be Turkey for example - in those circumstances I guess potentially it is possible to arrange for some sort of help with the consent of the parent,” he added.
“Inside Syria, whether in a camp or maybe somewhere else, there is no British consular presence.”
The Foreign Office has been contacted for confirmation of the baby’s reported death.