Islamic State member's baby dies in Syria; wanted to return to Britain

March 9 (UPI) -- The 3-week-old son of Shamima Begum has died in Syria after Britain's Home Secretary Sajid Javid revoked her citizenship because she was a member of the Islamic State

Begum's son, Jarrah, died in a Syrian refugee camp Thursday, according to a spokesperson Mustafa Bali of Syrian Democratic Forces.

The BBC reported that a medical certificate indicated that pneumonia was the cause of death.

Begum left Britain at age 15 to join the Islamic State and made headlines last month when she sought to return to Britain at age 19 to give birth to Jarrah.

Before she gave birth, Begum told British newspaper The Times that she wanted to come home to have her child since she already had two children who died in infancy from malnutrition and illness.

The baby's death has caused a public outcry with some members of the public including some British leaders criticizing Javid for revoking her citizenship.

"It is against international law to make someone stateless, and now an innocent child has died as a result of a British woman being stripped of her citizenship," Home Secretary Dianne Abbott Abbott tweeted.

International law prohibits countries from making people stateless by revoking their only citizenship.

The British government claimed Begum was a dual-national with access to Bangladeshi citizenship, but the Bangladeshi foreign ministry said in a statement that Begum is not a Bangladeshi citizen and her family tried to challenge the decision and ask for help in bringing her baby back to Britain.

Javid said that Begum's son was a British citizen, but it would have been "incredibly difficult" to facilitate a child's return from Syria.