Yes, Shamima Begum has made mistakes – but it’s time for this misguided teenager to return home

Two teenage girls whose lives have been driven by their beliefs made headline news this week. One sits stateless and heavily pregnant in a squalid refugee camp in Northern Syria, begging to come back to Britain. The other young woman refuses to attend school on Fridays and stages a weekly protest outside the Swedish parliament, holding a placard reading “School Strike for the Climate”.

Greta Thunberg’s campaign to force adults to stop prevaricating and act to save the planet has inspired thousands of like-minded young people. School strikes on Fridays have taken place in Belgium, Australia, Switzerland and the USA – and this week, Great Britain. Events culminate on 15 March with a global protest.

Greta was just 15 when she started her one-woman campaign. Since then she has addressed world leaders in Davos, given a TEDtalk and never wavered from achieving her goal. She travels by train, refuses to eat meat and has converted her own parents to her cause. Greta has spent seven years studying the effects of climate change and practises what she preaches. Her idealism and charisma have made her a poster girl for her generation. Middle-class adults, and quite a few teachers, think Greta is great – because fighting for climate change is an attractive proposition. So we cut the striking kids some slack.

Another young woman, Shamima Begum, was also 15 when she was drawn to an idealistic set of beliefs. She grew up in a close-knit (some might say too inward looking) Muslim community where most girls wear headscarves and women generally run the home, look after children and do not participate much socially outside the family circle. It is still very much a man’s world.

The police had become concerned that some girls in East London were being groomed by Isis, using other young women to lure them to Syria with all sorts of promises via social media. It’s easy to see how any 15 year old who grows up within a conservative, restrictive community would find messages like these appealing and exotic.

The police gave Shamima and her friends letters to give to their parents warning about the dangers of radicalisation, which were later found in their schoolbags. That’s no surprise. The grooming and persuasive tactics clearly worked. In February 2015, Shamima Begum and two of her classmates left their homes in Bethnal Green, East London, and flew to Turkey, where they travelled to Syria and “married” Isis fighters.

Over the next four years, Shamima gave birth to two children, both of whom died, probably due to malnutrition and the lack of medical supplies. She saw unspeakable violence and beheadings, and lived in utter squalor, moving from place to place. Her husband was taken away and tortured for months on end. This is not an existence you would wish on any teenager, not matter how repulsive their beliefs. I can imagine the effect that losing two babies far from home could have had on her mental stability. Now, we want Shamima to repent, to appear contrite and to denounce the group to whom she has given some of the best years of her life. Are we surprised she seems reluctant or too scared to do so?

Unlike Greta, Shamima is poorly educated, with a narrow view of the world. She has seen a lot, but learnt little. On the other hand, who would want to be their 15-year-old self again? To live by those teenage beliefs, those silly prejudices and passions? I was an insufferable snob, convinced my parents were imposters who had picked up the wrong child. I was determined to shed my working class background and read all sorts of pretentious twaddle.

A civilised society should be strong enough to re-admit a silly, misguided young woman to return to her birthplace. Is offering mercy and forgiveness such a dangerous tactic? If we let another of Shamima’s children die then Britain is adopting the same low tactics as the organisations we proscribe. There’s also the danger that Shamima could be turned into a martyr by Isis if anything happens to her. Surely Britain is robust enough to absorb her and any of the other 100 or so other girls who were also tempted to join fighters in Syria?

The home secretary says he “will not hesitate” to prevent Shamima’s return. She must face the full force of the law, prosecution, and possible confinement. Experts say it will be difficult to change her beliefs, to “de-radicalise” her. Social workers in her community do not agree. They see the case as a starting point, a chance to open up a closed community, to start a dialogue. Shamima’s family might want her to return to them, but it might be better if she first spent some time in a neutral environment, calmly considering what being British really means.

Our universities seem determined to “no platform” people whose beliefs students find difficult or “dangerous”. We mustn’t fall into the trap of applying those criteria to society at large. People can hold offensive, even repugnant beliefs in Britain, as long as they don’t break the law. Shamima needs to understand that.

Jack Dorsey, who co-founded Twitter, says some dumb things – usually on his own app. A few weeks ago, he tweeted: “I recently did a three day water fast. Biggest thing I notice is how much time slows down when not broken up by breakfast/lunch/dinner….anyone else have this experience?”

One wit replied – “Venezuelans”.

This week, Dorsey conducted a 90 minute interview with news website Recode via Twitter (not the easiest format for a serious head to head), and claimed that the most exciting tweeter was Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla. Yes, the same Elon Musk who tweeted that a British diver who helped rescue the schoolboys trapped in underground caves was a “pedo”.

Dorsey admits that Twitter has not done enough to prevent users being attacked and vilified and says he would award himself just a “C” for tech responsibility, adding “we’ve made progress, but it has been scattered and not felt enough”. When told that people felt “good” when they did not spend time tweeting, he said “it feels terrible”.

Women in public life have been particularly targeted by malicious tweets – Yvette Cooper allegedly received death threats directed at her children before the EU referendum: a man has now been arrested and bailed. I have blocked or muted more than 40 people for consistently slagging off my appearance or calling me a racist and spreading lies. Recruiters for Isis and other hate groups consistently use Twitter to recruit new members.

Dorsey says he want Twitter to “empower” people and feel they are learning something. Most of the time I’m just learning new insults. He says he’s considering an “edit” button so users can modify or explain old tweets. I’d be happier if abusers were kicked off for good. At the moment, they just open new accounts.