Three runaway schoolgirls feared to have joined Islamic State are thought to have funded their journey to Syria by selling jewellery that they stole from their families, MPs were told yesterday.
Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16, and Amira Abase, 15, paid more than £1,000 in cash for flights to Istanbul at a travel agent in east London last month. Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, Scotland Yard’s head of counterterrorism, told the home affairs select committee: “We think it [the cash] is linked to theft from families. We think it’s linked to taking jewellery from one of their family members.”
However, relatives of the three girls, who have criticised the force for not stopping the girls at Gatwick, were sceptical of the police claims. Renu Begum, Shamima’s sister, told ITV News that the girls had taken the bangles they were wearing and items of only sentimental value.
Mr Rowley and Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Metropolitan police commissioner, confirmed yesterday that the three girls would not be treated as criminals if they came back. Sir Bernard said: “If they return home there are no terrorism issues here.”