Former White Supremacist Says Shamima Begum Should Return To UK To Rehabilitate

For seven years, Arno Michaelis was a former leader of what was once the 'largest racist skinhead organisation in the world'.

After joining the white power movement when he was 17, he left the group in 1994 and has managed to reform himself and now helps others do the same.

When asked about Shamima Begum, Arno told LADbible: "It should be kept in mind that she was a teenager, she was a child, when she was groomed and exploited by ISIS.

"At the same time, she does need to take personal responsibility for the crimes that she's committed.

"In my opinion, Shamima should be allowed to return to the UK, where she would be charged with whatever crimes she's committed and given a fair trial regarding those crimes.

"And if she's convicted in the trial she'll need to go through the justice system and face the consequences of her actions."

However, Arno believes that Begum should be given the opportunity to reform, in the same way he did.

He added: "Along that way, she needs mental health counselling. She's been through hell. She's lost children.

"So this situation needs to be looked upon with compassion.

"The so-called 'Islamic state' has zero compassion and if we reply to a dearth of compassion by withholding compassion ourselves, then we're not a whole lot better than [them].

"And again, it doesn't mean that you should throw security to the wind, Shamima should need to go through a very long process of probation and vetting, which should definitely involve her service to the UK society."

The former extremist went on to say that, if Begum is able to reform, then she could take on the opportunity to stop others from going down the same path.

He said Shamima can be rehabilitated 'with guidance and supervision, talking to young people about the mistakes she's made and what she's learned from them and ideally helping to prevent other young people from making the same mistakes she's done'.

He also believes that those who want to return to the UK, after wanting to leave Isis, should be given an opportunity to rehabilitate because 'handing them back to your opposition' can make them 'more dangerous than ever'.

In the 80s, Arno was deeply involved in the white power movement and also a lead singer of the race-metal band Centurion.

Despite that, he now works with Serve 2 Unite/Parents For Peace - an organisation that aims to prevent radicalisation and help people recover after being radicalised.

Arno said: "We help people leave violent extremist groups of every sort.

"The organisation itself is staffed by, not only former white nationalists, but former jihadis and even former antifa are also involved with us.

"People from every violent extremist background you can imagine have all come together, along with brilliant mental health professionals and parents who have lost children to violent extremism."

Parents for Peace writes on its website: "Our goal is to help families and friends become effective mentors, using their established relationship to build a foundation of trust with loved ones who may be involved in extremism."